Six peak challenge for quadruple amputee boy

A team of fundraisers have walked six mountains in 48 hours to raise money for an 11-year-old boy from North Yorkshire who is a quadruple amputee.

A team of 19 people climbed the National Three Peaks and the Yorkshire Three Peaks in just 45 hours and 45 minutes - with only around four hours' sleep.

The event was organised by Adam Mortimer, from Skipton, whose son Luke was left a quadruple amputee after contracting meningococcal meningitis and septicaemia in 2019.

They have raised more than £16,000 to help fund Luke's prosthetics and also to help Amp Camp Kids - a charity which takes young amputees and their families on holiday in Tenerife.

The charity was set up by Ben Lovell, from Bradford, West Yorkshire, who had his leg amputated in 2017 after suffering a blood clot.

He started Amp Camp, a wellness camp for adult amputees, before going on to raise money to help children in the same way.

Mr Mortimer, 50, said the group set off from Skipton at 05:30 BST on Friday and travelled to Scotland, scaling Ben Nevis before walking up Scafell Pike in the Lake District.

They then drove back to Yorkshire to complete the Yorkshire Three Peaks - Pen-y-Ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough.

Finally, the group travelled to Wales to climb Yr Wyddfa, also known as Snowdon, finishing on Sunday morning.

They started the clock at 13:30 BST on Saturday, finishing at 11:45 BST on Sunday.

Luke, supported by his mum Christine and a second group of about 20 fundraisers, joined the team on Pen-y-Ghent on Saturday, as did his older brother Harry, 13.

Mr Mortimer said: "We were going to meet Luke on the top of Pen-y-Ghent but in the end we met him about half way down, which as a little bit unfortunate, as they had set off but we were held up by traffic and later than we had hoped."

"He is proud of what we've done, and we're proud of him as well," he said.

"It's a big undertaking. It was a good three-hour ascent for Luke and the weather was forecast to be quite nice and sunny, but it was terrible on Saturday."

Mr Mortimer said the challenge took months of planning, not only of the logistics but also the practice walks and food preparation. The hardest part however was staying motivated for so long.

"I think the toughest part was actually stopping and starting," he said.

"We did Ben Nevis and then it's nearly a five-hour drive to Scafell, and you've got to get ready and go again.

"Then we moved to the Yorkshire Three Peaks and you've got to get out of the bus and motivate yourself to get moving,

"Also, the general lack of sleep. We had drivers who were sleeping while we walked and sorting out the food.

"Everybody is shattered, it's been a big weekend!"

Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter) and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected]