TWO sick children are set to receive a boost towards funds for vital treatment after men from across the country decided to come together and tackle the highest mountain in the UK.

Bishop Auckland man, Watson Harrop Junior, decided to set the challenge of climbing Ben Nevis, in Scotland, to raise funds for four-year-old Isla Caton and ten-year-old Sean Gallagher.

Isla, of Essex, is currently receiving treatment in Spain for relapsed neuroblastoma.

She was just two when she was diagnosed but is on a new trial in Barcelona and her family are hopeful it will save her life.

Her mum, Nicola Caton, said she and her husband, Michael, had moved to Spain to be with their daughter and were grateful for any financial help as her treatment costs hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Sean, of Newcastle, was starved of oxygen at birth and suffers from Cerebral Palsy. He needs to go to Panama every six months to receive stem cell treatment which has an annual cost of more than £50,000.

Mr Harrop, who is a new father himself, said he was inspired to set a new challenge after seeing such a positive response from his foodbank challenge last Christmas.

Using the hashtag FoodbankNomination, Mr Harrop videoed himself donating to the foodbank following his weekly shop and encouraged others to donate anything they could to help struggling families over the festive period.

 

The video soon went viral and saw foodbanks across the country inundated with donations.

In his new challenge, the 30-year-old gypsy is using the hashtag Climb2Cure and is being joined by at least 50 men from both the travelling and non-travelling community.

He said non of the men taking part had any experience of climbing but all shared the same desire to help raise as much as they could to help Isla and Sean.

He said the current target is £20,000 and the men were training hard to make sure they can take on the challenge which is set for March 1 depending on the weather.

At 1345 metres above sea level, Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in the British IslesAt 1345 metres above sea level, Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in the British Isles

He said it was important to the group to raise funds for individual children.

He said: "Once we heard the little kids' stories, we knew we had to do something."

"We are hoping to raise about £20,000 and have already raised £7,000 on the GoFundMe page."

Mr Harrop and some of the local men have been training on climbs such as Roseberry Topping in North Yorkshire but said men from all four corners of the UK would be taking part.

"We are looking forward to it," he said. "But it's not about us doing the climb, it's about us trying to raise enough money to save these kids' lives."

To sponsor the team visit gofundme.com and search for Climb2Cure