A MAN and his sons will attempt to climb 17 Wainwright fells in 17 hours to thank to a hospital ward that cared for his wife as she recovered from breast cancer.

Andrew Bunn, from Brompton, Northallerton, said after his wife Debbie went for her routine mammogram in January they got a call asking her to have further tests, which confirmed she had breast cancer.

Mrs Bunn was cared for in Northallerton’s Friarage Hospital in the Scott Suite ward, which has been open for 17 years.

She has now been given a clean bill of health, but to thank medical staff and raise funds for the ward, Mr Bunn, along with sons William, 25, and Thomas, 22, will climb 17 Wainwright peaks in the Lake District from Saturday, June 7 to Sunday, June 8.

Mr Bunn said: “Fortunately it was classed as pre-cancer because we caught it straight away.

“Debbie unfortunately lost a breast, but she is one of the lucky ones, as many women need further treatment, including radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

“She was treated in the Scott Suite and after she recovered I wanted to do something to say thank you to the staff, but also raise awareness of the importance of getting routine cancer check-ups.”

Mr Bunn said he wants to highlight the importance of women getting a mammogram on time, because if Mrs Bunn had put off her appointment for six months it would have been in the aggressive stage.

Mr Bunn’s Just Giving page has already raised almost £800. To donate visit www.justgiving.com/andrew-bunn

Alfred Wainwright was a British fellwalker, guidebook author and illustrator who wrote the Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, which is the standard reference work to 214 of the fells.