He now aims to climb the seven highest peaks in the world

An offshore construction worker from Portsmouth who hit rock bottom this year has found an unlikely way to cope with his mental health through mountain climbing.

“I work offshore in the offshore construction industry in the North Sea,” said Danny Tolhurst, who lives in Copnor.

“At the beginning of the year my relationship broke down and I had to sell my house and I was struggling mentally.

“I was offshore, I was isolated, and I didn’t know where to turn. It wasn't a matter of me just being able to leave and go and talk to someone or see someone, I was in a really bad way," he said.

“There a massive suicide rate in the offshore industry at the moment, and probably one of the biggest causes is isolation.”

Danny Tolhurst | Danny Tolhurst

Danny was scrolling on social media in his cabin in the North Sea when he saw a video posted by his old friend, Rob Prior.

“We lost touch when I joined the military for 10 years. I was offshore and felt massively lost and it was just sort of one of the things that Rob put out, a video, and I just went, ‘do you know what? I just need to speak to someone’ so I messaged him,” said Danny.

“He asked how I was doing and I said I wasn’t doing well and he rang me within 10 minutes of me seeing the video, we ended up on the phone for about three and a half hours or so.”

Rob is an advocate for men’s mental health awareness, and set up Sidekick Initiative to support people from all walks of life who feel “isolated, overwhelmed, unheard, or stuck.”

From L-R: Danny Tolhurst, Rob Prior and Danny Brain climb Snowdon | Rob Prior

“He basically kept me in check whilst I was away, he set me out a plan and a structure,” said Danny.

“When I came back to shore, my structure was gone, I had no routine, so he wrote me a load of stuff down, stuff that he’d learnt, like setting daily targets, things like that.

“We started walking together and got other people involved, but we both mutually agreed we could do a bit more than walk. That’s when we started setting the mountain challenges, starting our sofa to summit,” he said.

Danny found a passion for climbing | Danny Tolhurst

The pair started off with the Three Peaks Challenge, seeing them tackle Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon in 24 hours.

“I loved it,” said Danny. “Then I went from that, I went to Mount Fuji in Japan, then I went and did Mont Blanc in the Swiss Alps, and the Six Peaks Challenge all within 30 days.”

“I had to do special training to prepare me for Mont Blanc. We learned rescue techniques, using crampons on our boots and the ice axe for climbing,” he said.

Danny (R) at the summit of Mont Blanc with Ecuadorian climber, Sebastian | Danny Tolhurst

“If it wasn’t for Rob, I wouldn’t have done anything like that, I don’t know where I’d be at the moment.

“I found a love for it. Starting from next February , I am going to climb the seven summits of the world, starting with Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Elbrus, with the hopes to complete the challenge by summitting Everest in 2029.

“I’ll carry on the challenges every month with Sidekick , and I will fly the flag for Sidekick on the all the seven summits of the world,” he said.

Danny at the summit of Mount Fuji | Danny Tolhurst

When he’s not climbing mountains, Danny still works offshore, but is now better equipped to cope with his feelings of isolation.

“After speaking to Rob, I found a further two people on the vessel that I was on were actually also suffering with their mental health, so I ended up setting up a bit of a group myself on board, and we’d all go for a cup of tea at four o’clock every day,” he said.

You can find out more about Rob’s Sidekick Initiative here.