8:50 am, December 9, 2022
An automotive executive has told how he needed 17 stitches in his head after a horror fall on Mount Kilimanjaro.
Spencer Grinham was one of the automotive industry leaders climbing the near-6,000m mountain when he tripped and fell.
The 54-year-old lost his footing on the way down from the summit and rolled nearly 40m down the mountainside.
He cracked his head through to the skull and smashed his eye socket in the terrifying fall that happened nearly 5,000m above sea level.
Grinham, who is sales director for Hella, was airlifted to hospital where he was treated for his injuries.
He told Car Dealer: ‘On my descent, I stepped off a rock and my right foot slipped. Instead of falling back, I stepped forward and before I had time to think I was running down the mountain.
‘It got to a point where my legs couldn’t keep up on the 50-60 degree slope and I just thought “this is going to hurt”.
‘I was conscious all the time and was rolled up in a ball falling down the mountain.’
Grinham sustained a serious 15cm-long gash on the top of his head, crushed his eye socket and damaged his shoulder. His fellow climbers called for a helicopter and administered first aid.
Due to his location on such a steep part of the mountain, he had to walk to the camp where the helicopter had landed.
‘It was very scary,’ said Grinham.
‘I didn’t really appreciate it at the time but it was tough having to walk down a further 90 minutes to safety where the helicopter was waiting.
‘I really didn’t want to do it, but I had to. There was no other way of getting me to safety.’
Now back in the UK and at home in Halesowen, West Midlands, Grinham is starting to recover.
‘10 days later and my injuries are healing and I’m feeling much better,’ he said. ‘But it was scary because I didn’t lose consciousness. Even now. I can still picture the situation.
‘I have to be careful when I speak to anybody about it. To be honest, it’s still really raw. The doctor said I was very, very lucky.’
Grinham said telling his wife and two grown up sons that he’d had the fall was the worst part.
‘It was the most difficult conversation I’ve ever had in my life,’ he added. ‘But they’ve now been sharing all the gory pictures with friends and family.’
Rachael Prasher, managing director of Haymarket Automotive, was also a participant in the challenge and helped care for Grinham after the fall.
She told Car Dealer: ‘We were all exhausted as we descended from the summit and the ground was incredibly steep and slippery.
‘Spencer was ahead of Rachel Clift and I and as we rounded a corner we could see he had fallen. When we reached him he was characteristically calm and not making a fuss, but he was clearly in a lot of pain both from his horrible head injury – there was a lot of blood – and also from damage to his hand and shoulder.
‘Thankfully, Spencer was also the most prepared person in our group and thus had the world’s best first aid kit in his bag. Rachel dressed his wounds and I ensured Spencer was warm, hydrated and tried to help him with the pain.
‘Bearing in mind we were still well over 5000m up the side of a mountain. We huddled together until the air ambulance was summoned and the mountain guides helped him reach the helipad.
‘We were all so worried about him and relieved when word reached us that he’d been stitched up and discharged from hospital that evening. It was an emotional moment when we finally finished our descent and were reunited with Spencer the following day.’
Grinham was part of a team of 15 automotive industry leaders that reached the summit of Kilimanjaro.
The team included car dealers Adrian Wallington and Clive McGregor from Marshall Motor Group and James Tordoff and Andy Bateman from JCT600.
Grinham and his colleague Neil Grant have so far raised nearly £23,800 for BEN.
He said: ‘Hopefully by telling my story people put their hand in their pocket and help add to the total.’
You can donate to the team’s total here. The climb has now raised around £200,000 for BEN.
Matt Wigginton, from BEN, added: ‘It was an awe-inspiring, yet incredibly tough and emotional experience.
‘We can’t thank our industry leaders enough for taking part in this epic challenge.’
