I was reading the local paper last week and read the following story about a little boy called Sid. I felt very emotional reading this and thought about how I'd cope if this happened to one of my brothers. As soon as I read this story I knew I wanted to do use my climb to help raise much needed funds for them.

On July the 15th I will be setting off to Chamonix to climb "The Matterhorn". To start off there will be 3 days acclimatisation at around 13,000 ft in the French Alps. On the Thursday 19th I will head to Zermatt in the Swiss alps and trek up to the Hornli Hut where I'll stay for the night. At 4am I will set off for in hope to summit "The Matterhorn" via the Hornli Ridge. This is a 14,600 ft (4,478m) technical climb using, crampons, ropes and fixed ropes. It will take approximately 6+ hours to climb along the famous knife edge to the top, I'll then have a further 7+ hours to abseil/climb down. My brother Stuart is also doing the climb with me which makes this story more fitting as the money raised from will give Sid that opportunity to live his life to the full and one day make special memories with his brother.

Link to what Stuart and I will be taking on - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abU1LAjgclY

Please read the story below and sponsor me to help raise much needed funds for Super Sid and his family. Thank you xx

Within the last week my whole families life has been turned upside down when my gorgeous little nephew Sid was found to have a large cancerous tumour (ependymoma) surrounding his brain stem entrapping all of his facial nereves in the process. We as a family are so grateful to all of those at Arrowe Park and Alder Hey hospital for acting quickly and getting him into surgery just 2 days from diagnosis. The surgery was a success and the tumour was removed! We are now looking at 8-10 weeks of intensive proton therapy treatment abroad which is the only option available to allow Sid to continue having a happy and healthy life side by side with his identical twin brother Mac. We do not know as of yet where Sid will be sent for treatment but we are told this will be happening within the next 3-4 weeks and he will be treated daily for the course. This treatment is imperative to Sids recovery and without it would have detrimental effects.

Proton therapy is our only option with the hope that Sid will be able to continue a happy and healthy life alongside his identical twin brother Mac. The treatemt is not yet available in the UK and we are still awaiting to hear where Sid will be sent for treatment as soon as he is fit enough to fly after undergoing 10 hours of intensive brain surgery just one week ago. This treatment is undoubtedly the best option for Sid and has a 70% survival rate for this condition alone in which we remain positive.

As a family, of course we are doing everything in our power to try and ease the financial strain for my sister Alex, Brother in law Simon, Sid and his identical twin brother Mac But I would like to appeal to anyone who may be able to help no matter how small the donation.

Whilst the NHS will fund for the treatment for Sid I I would love to be able to raise the money to pay for Sids identical twin brothers flight and help towards their living costs whilst abroad as of course they will endure massive loss of earnings throughout this horrendous time whilst also incurring alot of additional costs. My hope is that they will still be able to spend the summer together as a solid family unit whilst making the most of what is of course awful time in everyones lives.

I would love to be able to help ease their financial pressures during this time and hope that people will find it in their hearts to donate whatever they can to keep their family together for the summer and more importantly 2 identical twins that adore and miss eachother everyday that they are not together whilst Sid is in hospital.

We have no idea the costs that will be endured whilst away and also maintaining their family home and bills whilst not having the opportunity to work throughout the duration of Sids treatment. What I do know however is that every penny raised will help ease some of the pressure on my amazing family.