Ed Jackson braves a polystyrene shower during his summit attempt. Photo: @thatcameraman

A quadriplegic athlete has completed his charity challenge to scale the equivalent height of Everest on his parents’ staircase.

Bath resident Ed Jackson had to brave avalanches of polystyrene foam provided by his wife and stepmother as he ‘summited’ his metaphorical peak.

The former professional rugby player completed 2,783 trips up and down the flight of steps, with a total of 89,056 stairs equalling the 8,848m height of the Himalayan peak. He began his quest at 8am on Tuesday and reached his goal at 4.30pm on Friday.

The challenge left the athlete with several blisters on his fingers and toes.

He spent more than eight hours a day climbing the staircase, effectively on one leg due to his Brown-Sequard Syndrome, a neurological condition that results in weakness or paralysis of one side of the body. The former Bath and London Wasps forward began his ‘summit day’ effort at 4am, with a headtorch illuminating the darkness of the corridor, completing 2,168m or 10,912 steps.

Jackson, an ambassador for outdoors brand Berghaus, raised more than £34,000 for spinal cord research foundation Wings for Life, and NHS affiliated charities, including a donation of £10,000 from Berghaus.

During the climb, he received many messages of encouragement, including a Facetime chat with mountaineer Sir Chris Bonington just before the final push. Sir Chris expressed his support and admiration for Ed’s challenge and spoke about his own experience of reaching the summit of Everest in 1985.

Donations to the charities can still be made via Ed Jackson’s Virgin Money Giving page.