Ben Nevis victory for seven year old boy with cerebral palsy
Caeden Thomson (7) from Corby in Northamptonshire has conquered Ben Nevis to raise money for disability equality charity Scope and his local hospital.
The climb in total took 13.5 hours up and down.
Mum Lisa, who along with Caeden’s brother, sister and dad were with him every step of the way, said: “Caeden is an absolute legend. We started at 9am and reached the top at 5.30pm – and got back to the bottom at 10.30pm.
“It was such a massive challenge and much, much harder than any of us expected. There were many hard time along the way – from three quarters of the way up the pathway is just massive boulders and very hard to climb, and even at the top we didn’t think he would make it down.
“There were danger areas where carrying was very difficult, so Caeden did have to walk down a lot of it too. The temperature dropped hugely and many climbers said they were turning back. But we made it!
“We are all super proud of him, he deserves a medal! People we have spoken to at the campsite said they climbed it once and they will never climb it again – we now know why! Last night no-one could move or celebrate, so today we are resting up and will celebrate tonight!! We all love Caeden so much and can’t believe his passion for getting to the top.”
Caeden said: “My body hurts a lot but I’m ok! It was really, really hard! I felt sick and exhausted at the top, and I felt exhausted but happy at the bottom!”
Money raised will give back to the NHS Children’s services and the physiotherapy department at Kettering General Hospital and disability equality charity Scope.