Boy who was told he would never walk climbs Ben Nevis
A Seven-year-old boy who was told he would never walk after being diagnosed with cerebral palsy has climbed Ben Nevis.
Caeden Thomson, from Corby, Northants, reached the top of the 4,413ft peak on Saturday, raising over £8,000 for his local NHS trust and the disability equality charity Scope.
Caeden was born 12 weeks early and had to undergo intense physiotherapy to aid his mobility.
He had told his mother, Lisa, that he wanted to be able to do something for charity because “he was so lucky for all the things he has had in his life”.
Early in his life, doctors had told Caeden’s parents that he would never be able to walk, sit or talk.
Setting out to raise £8,000, a crowdfunding page now puts the total at more than £8,700 after the 13-hour challenge.
Caeden and his family had initially planned to undertake the climb in May but had been forced to postpone it due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Ms Thomson said the family had underestimated the scale of the challenge and they had been a bit “naive” about what awaited them.
“We were quite naive to be fair, all the things we had researched on, we never realised how bad the pathways were and it was really hard.
“Caeden is a superhero, because we were stopping at some points and he kept saying, can we go, can we just get there.
“We had met three people before we went up and they told us they would never do it again and definitely we will never do it again.”
The group, which set off at 9am, reached the top at 5.30pm before returning down at 10.30pm.
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.”
Ms Thomson added: “We are all super-proud of him, he deserves a medal.
“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.”