WE DID IT!!!  SEE BELOW FOR UPDATE 

Many of you know my younger sister Emma was diagnosed with a terminal mixed glioma brain tumour in October 2009.  She underwent surgery in November where they successfully removed 60% of the tumour and has recently finished radiotherapy on the remaining 40%.

 

Just before Emma was diagnosed she found out she was pregnant and was faced with the incredibly hard decision of whether to keep the baby or not.  The doctors recommended she abort, as the risks were too great.  It never crossed Emma's mind whether to keep the baby or not and 10 days ago she gave birth to a healthy baby boy.  Joshua was born by Caesarean section 2 weeks early on March 18th 2010 and was a healthy 6lbs 13oz.  Considering what he has already been through he is truly a miracle.

 

To try and support the charity that has helped Emma the most I will be doing the Three Peaks Challenge in the hope that people will donate to a great cause.

 

As well as providing practical and emotional support to brain tumour suffers, Brain Tumour UK is also trying to raise money to fund research and enhance the treatment and care sufferers receive.

 

We are aiming to raise £3000 and would appreciate anything you can give to help us achieve this target.

 

The Three Peaks Challenge involves climbing the three highest peaks in ,  and  within 24 hours (including driving time!). The Peaks are:

Ben Nevis, in (1344m) Scafell Pike, in (978m) Snowdon, in (1085m) Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

 

 

We set out from the foot of Ben Nevis at 4pm on Friday 14^th May with a goal to climb the 3 highest mountains in , and within 24 hours.

 

 

The plan was 6 climbers & 2 drivers split between 2 cars.   Unfortunately Mark hurt his back on Wednesday and was unable to start, so that left 7.  As we were carrying a variety of injuries it was agreed that we would split the cars to try and achieve the quickest time possible.  With the slowest group completing the climb in 4h 35m and the quickest in 3h 31m we were all on target for a great time!

 

 

From Ben Nevis we drove through the night to Scarfell Pike in the .  To avoid any legal problems I won’t go through the driving times but thanks to light traffic we were also able to make up some time on the road sections!

 

 

Scarfell Pike proved to be the hardest part of the challenge as we were so far ahead of schedule both groups reached the summit in the dark, with the lead group having to descend in the dark too!

 

 

With both groups still on schedule we arrived battered and bruised at the foot of , where due to an injury picked up on Scarfell Pike only 4 set off on the final climb.  Considering we had now been awake over 24 hours and already climbed over 6,000ft, morale was still high even if energy levels weren’t.

 

 

We completed the final climb on a mixture of determination, energy drinks and the thought of getting back to our beds!

 

An incredible experience, even though we are in no rush to do it again.

 

 

The final times were;

 

 

Stephen & Andrew in Scot’s car         19h 25m

 

Umesh & Nathan in John’s car            22h 38m

 

 

I would like to thank everyone for their support and sponsorship.  It’s been an incredible experience and we raised nearly £3,500 for Brain Tumour .  The Just Giving page will be open for the next 10 days, so if you haven’t already donated there is still time.

 

 

Thanks again!