Gemma raised mountains of money for us by speedily climbing the three highest peaks of Scotland, England and Wales, in 24 hours. Here’s her story.
I decided to take on this challenge in order to motivate myself to stay fit and healthy. With 3 daughters it is important to me that I set a good example to them around health and fitness I am turning 40. What better way to mark the occasion than with a challenge that keeps me fit and healthy whilst raising money for a cause that is close to my heart?!
My niece has aniridia. Sabrina is an inspiration with how strong and resilient she is despite dealing with the daily challenges that come along with having aniridia.
The National Three Peaks Challenge involves walking 23 miles (37km) and the total ascent is 3064 metres (10,052ft).
- Snowdon, in Wales (1085m)
- Scafell Pike, in England (978m)
- Ben Nevis, in Scotland (1345m)
Gemma tackled the climb a group organised by Charity Challenge. All the logistics and safety precautions were taken care off. She had to gather sponsorship to cover the costs and enough donations, train and then complete the feat itself.
I completed the challenge on 4 August – and the word challenge does not do justice to how difficult it actually is. It is one of the hardest things I have ever done!
We started off on Saturday morning with Ben Nevis. The weather was not on our side at all. There was heavy rain throughout the walk and wind chill temperatures of close to zero degrees! However, we got to the top! Coming down was just as hard but we made it.
Then after an evening drive to the Lake District we tackled Scarfell Pike through the night, in the dark. The weather was much kinder to us. The challenge here was the darkness and the very rugged ground conditions which made coming down especially tricky.
Then onto Snowdon for the final hike. We started off with lovely weather which unfortunately turned to rain as the day went on. For me this was the easiest of the hikes (although still far from easy).
I was met at the bottom by my dad (Sabrina’s grandad), our knight in shining armour (or should I say driver in a comfy car) who drove me all the way back down to Surrey in comfort!
It definitely took me a few days and warm baths to recover!
Our heartfelt thanks to Gemma and all her supporters for their very generous support. This funding enables us to run events and support scientific work on aniridia.
If you would like to reward this incredible effort go to Gemma’s JustGiving page.
Aniridia Network 