A British hiker rescued in a storm 10,170ft up Mont Blanc wearing a tracksuit claims he was well prepared for the ascent – but thought he was going to die.

Aerospace engineer Feda Hussein – scaling the Alpine peak for his 26th birthday – was saved by Italian rescuers after phoning for help.

‘I did have the right gear,’ he insisted. ‘I had crampons, a harness and rope with me.

‘It’s just when they found me my gear was covered with snow. It’s still up there. I took my crampons off so I could get in my sleeping bag.’

Mr Hussein, of Portsmouth, has climbed Snowdon but mainly uses indoor facilities.

He added: ‘I got lost and the weather turned, which made things worse. I admit it was pretty scary.’

Rescuers told him to stay put amid the storm on the Bionnassay glacier.

‘We stayed in touch for a few hours,’ he said.

‘Then I remember calling and saying, “Don’t worry, I’m going to die in a minute”. The next thing I remember is waking up in hospital.’

Doctors said his temperature had fallen to 25C – the norm is 37C – and he was ‘five minutes from dying’, he told Mail Online from his bed.

He added: ‘I wanted to give myself a birthday present. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea.’

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