London, Sep 30 (IANS): An elderly man died just after texting his wife about his ecstacy of having finally scaled Africa's highest peak at 19,342 ft ahead of his birthday.
It had been a lifetime dream of Alistair Cook's to tackle the summit of Africa's highest peak ahead of his 70th birthday, which he would have celebrated Monday, Daily Mail reported.
Just before dying Cook sent his wife of three years, Vicky, a text message expressing his delight at his achievement It said: "Reached the summit at 09.50 a.m., feel exhausted but so happy."
Father of three, Cook had trained for about 18 months for the climb, and walked near his home every morning. He had also scaled Mount Snowdon, in Wales, in preparation for the challenge.
But he dropped dead on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, as just minutes after reaching the summit, he suffered a heart attack and died.
The couple lived in Leicestershire.