Deafblind PhD student aims for Everest

Karolina will embark on her Everest quest in May 2026

Karolina, 29, was diagnosed with Usher syndrome, a rare degenerative condition at the age of 19, and she is slowly losing her sight and hearing.

In 2023 she made a successful trek to Everest base camp, and the climbers she encountered inspired her to believe that she could achieve her dream of reaching the Everest Summit.

"I hope that by summiting Everest, my journey will raise some awareness about deafblindness and other similar conditions like Retinitis Pigmentosa." she said.

To prepare for the Everest expedition Karolina follows an intense training schedule combining walking, HIIT classes, strength training and climbing, with input from Team Bath to track progress and prevent injury. She joined the Student Union's Bath University Mountaineering Club, with support from the SU Alumni Access Fund.

"The club has been incredibly supportive of my Everest project. I was initially nervous to share it with them, but they've been very enthusiastic and encouraging, offering support-from making adaptations to ensure accessibility to sharing my posts on social media."

Karolina has a schedule of milestone missions which began with the BathHalf in October 2023. In April this year she completed the London Marathon and in June the National Three Peaks 24-hour Challenge, scaling Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon, with just three minutes to spare.

On 8 November she will travel to Nepal to take on the 6,476 metre Mera Peak Summit, in a 16-day expedition funded by Millimetres 2 Mountains Foundation.

"I'm feeling very excited and ready, but also a little nervous," she said. "It's a big mountain and a major milestone for Everest, so naturally, there's some anxiety. But I'm looking forward to meeting my climbing partners, the Everest Sherpas and Gurkhas, and working closely with them.

"This will be our chance to build rapport, understand each other's strengths and limitations, and strategise how to communicate and navigate together with my deafblindness."

Karolina's postgraduate research focus in the Centre for Digital Entertainment is on creating tactile images for the Visually Impaired community, using Computer Vision techniques. The system detects the most important elements in a photograph and translates them into simple tactile pictograms using widely recognisable icons and patterns.

This makes it easier and quicker for people to learn and adapt. It's an alternative format to existing sound or touch-based systems, allowing individuals to explore photographs through touch in a way that may be more intuitive and accessible. Read her research.

Karolina is also collaborating with researchers at Carleton University in Canada, who are prototyping a wearable haptic device, called the 'tap-tap', which will enable her to communicate with her climbing team through vibration signals.

Professor Michael Proulx from the Department of Psychology, a supervisor on her PhD said: "Many people have compared pursuing a PhD to climbing a mountain - but I think Karolina might be the first to summit so many challenges in parallel, including the mission to Everest. She has already published some incredible scientific work, raised awareness about Usher's Syndrome, collaborated with industry, and so much more.

"Watching her dedication and progress with this new challenge has just amplified how inspiring she is. Plus, we keep discussing new research ideas that this opportunity creates."

To find out more about her challenge, and ways to get involved, visit the project website. Karolina is fundraising to sponsor a guide dog she will name Everest, and to support the Millimetres 2 Mountains Foundation to enable others to embrace the outdoors and adventures despite traumas or disabilities.

She is also an ambassador for Sporting Family Change, a charity which uses sport to empower, inspire and motivate local families in Bath and North-East Somerset.

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