Shropshire firefighter’s emotion after 9/11 stair challenge

A firefighter from Shropshire has described the emotion of joining more than 1,200 colleagues in a memorial stair climb honouring firefighters who lost their lives in the 9/11 attacks.

Kat Frost was among almost 300 firefighters from the UK and Ireland who travelled to Atlanta, Georgia, to take part in the United 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb at baseball stadium Truist Park.

Last weekend, participants climbed 110 flights of stairs in full fire kit in temperatures of about 35C and high humidity, replicating the ascent made by firefighters during the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York in 2001.

“It was emotional, but it was an amazing experience,” Frost said.

She was joined by fellow Shropshire firefighters Stuart Hughes, Andrew Bradbury, Simon Roberts and Luke Alexander, as well as Becky Barden from Presteigne in Powys, and Beth Jones from Leominster, Herefordshire.

Each firefighter carried a photo of someone who lost their life in the attacks.