Jason’s mountain challenge in a wheelchair

FOR JASON Liversidge, it was a devastating diagnosis that has left him unable to walk due to a rare and debilitating neurological condition.

However, the terminally ill 41-year-old has overcome the crippling effects of motor neurone disease to successfully climb Mount Snowdon in his wheelchair.

Despite losing the ability to walk about a year ago, Bridlington-born Mr Liversidge climbed the highest mountain in Wales this week in his 4x4 terrain hopper wheelchair with his wife, Liz, and friends.

He said: “It was a huge personal challenge for me and it is an amazing feeling as it hasn’t been done before. It was an unknown quantity and I didn’t know whether me or the wheelchair would make it.”

Mr Liversidge has already tackled the fastest zip line in the world and the longest in Europe and driven a Formula One race car around Silverstone. And while he admitted his latest challenge did not give him the same adrenaline rush, the climb to the summit of Snowdon was his biggest challenge yet.

The father-of-two, who was diagnosed with the muscle wasting disease in 2013, is hoping to raise about £5,000 for Dove House and Marie Curie as a thank you for their support.

Mr Liversidge, who now lives in Rise, near Hornsea, said: “I’m motivated by my illness, my family and the desire to keep on living life to the full.”

His wife added: “I’m completely in awe of Jason. He has gone from a fit and active man to someone who is completely dependent on others, but he doesn’t let that stop him. He is an inspiration to us all.

“It’s important that we continue to make memories with our girls, as we don’t know when the inevitable will happen.”

The rare neurological condition causes the degeneration of the motor system – the cells and nerves in the brain and spinal cord which control the body’s muscles. Most people with MND die within five years of the onset of symptoms.