A ten-year-old quad amputee who hoped to raise £500 for disabled kids by climbing a mountain has been left stunned - after bringing in over £23,000 in donations.
Selfless Luke Mortimer described reaching the towering figure - which is more than 46 times higher than he’d expected - as both "mad" and "absolutely amazing".
The youngster was just seven when he sadly lost his arms and legs after getting the bacterial infections meningococcal meningitis and septicaemia.
Following his diagnosis, his family were supported by charities and donors who helped to adapt his home and even buy him a £15,000 bionic arm.
Luke later set his heart on “returning the favour” to organisations supporting disabled children - by doing a sponsored climb of Embsay Crag, in North Yorks.
But he's been left stunned with the money he’s now raised from generous punters after reaching the top of the 656ft peak on November 4 - dubbed his ‘Everest’.
Selfless Luke Mortimer described reaching the towering figure - which is more than 46 times higher than he’d expected - as both "mad" and "absolutely amazing".
The youngster was just seven when he sadly lost his arms and legs after getting the bacterial infections meningococcal meningitis and septicaemia.
Following his diagnosis, his family were supported by charities and donors who helped to adapt his home and even buy him a £15,000 bionic arm.
Luke later set his heart on “returning the favour” to organisations supporting disabled children - by doing a sponsored climb of Embsay Crag, in North Yorks.
But he's been left stunned with the money he’s now raised from generous punters after reaching the top of the 656ft peak on November 4 - dubbed his ‘Everest’.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 Hi, my name is Luke and I'm going to be walking up Empty Crag in aid of Children in Need and
00:29 Limb Power.
00:40 Why did you want to climb it Luke?
00:42 Ever since we moved in I just saw it and thought Mum, Dad, at one point can we climb up that
00:49 big hill over there?
00:50 And then you say what, you mean Empty Crag?
00:54 And I go yeah.
00:57 And then you decided to do it to raise money as well didn't you?
01:01 Yeah.
01:02 I mean it's going to be hard in some places but how hard can it be?
01:20 I mean I've done a couple of walks around the reservoir but going uphill is kind of
01:27 a different thing.
01:28 But I guess I'm just kind of going to wing it.
01:32 No plan.
01:33 I reckon lots of sweets and drinks and encouragement.
01:56 What do you think the view is going to be like when you get up there?
01:59 Breathtaking.
02:00 I mean looking that way I've got a nice tree line, looking this way I've got a big reservoir.
02:09 You're going to be above all of that looking down at it.
02:18 Yeah.
02:19 This is going to be a completely numb place.
02:20 This one won't go up any more so I think this one's going to be a bit more difficult.
02:21 So this walk for Luke is a huge challenge.
02:39 This is kind of like Luke's little Everest.
02:41 He's looked at this Empty Crag for quite a while since we've moved to Empty.
02:46 It will be the longest and probably the highest that Luke's walked since his amputations.
02:52 So Empty Crag I believe is 636 feet.
02:56 The whole walk is just under two miles.
02:59 And you know it's a long way to go with your legs amputated.
03:04 I'm really confident in Luke.
03:06 I think he'll get up and get down but it's going to be a tough day.
03:10 And you know anybody who wants to come and support us, we're going to have tea and coffee
03:15 here and cakes, if they want to come and do the walk with Luke and encourage him, that
03:19 would be brilliant.
03:20 [BLANK_AUDIO]