A six-peak challenge for a quadruple amputee boy

A team of fundraisers have hiked 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 climbed the National Three Peaks and the Yorkshire Three Peaks in just 45 hours and 45 minutes, on only around four hours of sleep.

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

They raised over £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 to 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 raising 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, climbing Ben Nevis before heading up Scafell Pike in the Lake District.

They then returned to Yorkshire to complete the three Yorkshire 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 1:30 p.m. BST on Saturday and finished at 11:45 a.m. BST on Sunday.

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

Mr Mortimer said: “We were going to meet Luke at the top of Pen-y-Ghent but in the end we met him halfway, which was a bit unfortunate, because they had set off but we were held up by traffic and later than we had hoped.

“He’s proud of what we’ve done, and we’re proud of him too,” he said.

“It’s a big undertaking. It was a nice three-hour climb for Luke and the weather forecast was pretty nice and sunny, but it was terrible on Saturday.”

Mr Mortimer said the challenge took months of planning, not only in terms of logistics but also training marches and meal preparation. But the hardest part was staying motivated for so long.

“I think the hardest part was stopping and starting,” he said.

“We did Ben Nevis, then it’s almost a five-hour drive to Scafell, and you have to get ready and go again.

“Then we moved to the Yorkshire Three Peaks and you have to get off the bus and motivate yourself to move,

“Also, the general lack of sleep. We had drivers sleeping while we walked and sorted food.

“Everyone is upset, it’s been a busy weekend! »

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