Three peaks, one day, more than £5k raised

Darcie Fraser, who was born with a rare form of congenital diaphragmatic hernia, meaning she had no diaphragm at all, was desperate to give something back to Glasgow’s Royal Hospital for Children at Yorkhill.

She had surgery there when she was three days old, and has been back and forward there her whole life.

Her father Sean, a 51-year-old council bin lorry driver, rounded up a few of his pals to undertake the difficult three peaks challenge – climbing the highest peaks in Scotland, England and Wales in less than 24 hours.

And that’s exactly what they did ... with half an hour to spare.

Sean said: “It wasn’t an easy task by any means, but it was worth it.

“We raised £5,600 for the hospital, and Darcy handed over the cheque herself.

“She was a wee bit nervous before the presentation, but she said to me: ‘They saved my life, I’m sure I can hand over a cheque’.”

Sean and his pals – Barry Simpson, Jamie Revels, Cameron Rice, Chris McCabe, James Mains, Alan Morrison, Stuart Thornton, Lee Sinclair and Gordon Grant – took on the challenge in June, scaling 4,409ft Ben Nevis, 3,209ft Scafell Pike and 3,560ft Snowdon.

Sean said: “It was brilliant. The weather was really kind to us for the first climb, but had deteriorated by the time we got to the Lake District.

“Two of our guys got lost for a while there, so we had to wait until we were all together before heading to Wales.

“But we did it in 23 hours and 30 minutes, and had a fair old celebration when we came off Snowdon.

“I had secretly bought medals for the guys as well, so that was a good surprise for them.

“Darcie was delighted. She is doing okay at the moment, but she is due to go back into the hospital for heart surgery at the end of next year, so she is happy she was able to hand over the cheque.

“ I’d just like to thank the guys for doing the challenge as well as everyone who sponsored us, it really does mean a lot.”