Sir Ranulph Fiennes has been forced to abandon his climb of the highest peak in South America just hours from the summit due to severe back pain.

The 72-year-old explorer hoped to summit Aconcagua as part of his attempt to become the first person to cross both the polar ice caps and climb the 7 highest mountains on each continent for Marie Curie.

Sir Ranulph had to be helicoptered from the 6,962m (22, 838 feet) mountain on 16th January.

Speaking from Mendoza in Argentina Sir Ranulph Fiennes said:  “I was within just a few hours of the summit but problems with my back meant I couldn’t continue. I’m very frustrated, but I’ve learnt that at my age you can’t ignore any pain. I’m going to come home to the UK and get my back looked at before I do anything else.”

Sir Ranulph had recently returned from successfully climbing Mount Vinson, the highest peak in Antarctica in December as part of his current record attempt.

To complete his Global Reach Challenge and claim a world first, he still needs to successfully climb Aconcagua in South America, Carstenz in Indonesia and Denali in North America.

Sir Ranulph has raised money for Marie Curie for a number of years raising over £18million in total for the charity so far.

To support Sir Ranulph’s Global Reach Challenge in aid of Marie Curie click here.