A few years ago, climbing Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) would have been completely impossible for Daniel. He suffers from Pectus Excavatum. We hope to raise money to allow more people to live like he does now.

This is his story in his own words:

Around 3 years ago, I started noticing a slight indent in my chest. I pointed it out randomly to my mum, not thinking much of it and she compared it to photos from the previous summer, noticing I had, since then, developed a chest dent.

A quick Google search later showed this was called pectus excavatum (PE for short) but apparently had no common or harmful side effects.

Within 3 months, I was completely unable to run anything more than a kilometre, which was originally a standard exercise to me (I was a fairly experienced long distance runner) without experiencing a sharp pain in my chest. I couldn't do any form of exercise focussed on my chest muscles of breathing without severe pain and this pain only got worse over the next 10 months or so.

I was lucky enough to receive surgery, by which point I was basically unable to partake in contact sports, run any long distance or on bad days even breathe normally without taking pain killers several times a day. I was lucky to get the nuss procedure surgery before experiencing the worst of the symptoms, in which a metal bar was inserted into my chest and shaped so that it pressed my ribs outwards, correcting the indent and preventing my ribs from causing further pain and pressing on my heart and lungs.

However, there are people with much worse stories that I've spoken to and Pectus Matters is raising money and awareness to ensure many more people doesn't have to live like that, by working with the NHS and various health advisors to get the number of surgeries done every year increased and this is a contribution to that effort.

Pectus Matters is a new charity that supports people going through diagnosis and a very tricky journey to get treatment and support. Every penny will help. This charity didn't exist when Daniel was first diagnosed and it was a tough journey!

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.