Ex-soldier starts 50-peak tribute to dead brother
A FORMER serviceman has climbed the first of 50 mountains he will scale this year in memory of the brother he lost in Afghanistan.
John Davies, 31, will conquer dozens of peaks across Britain including Scafell Pike in the Lake District and Snowdon in Wales.
Mr Davies, from St Helens, Merseyside, is taking on the challenge in memory of his brother Chris, who was killed in action in 2010.
Chris, 22, was on patrol in Helmand Province when he was fatally shot in the chest by Taliban insurgents.
Mr Davies was also in Helmand at the same time, serving with the same regiment, the Irish Guards.
He said he is taking on the challenge in tribute to his brother and to raise money for forces charity Veterans Lifeline, which helps support struggling ex-serviceman.
He started on New Year’s Day, with a 25-mile trek up and down the Yorkshire Three Peaks – Whernside at 2,415ft, Ingleborough at 2,372ft and Pen-y-ghent at 2,277ft.
He said: “It was really good but definitely much harder than I thought it would be.
The first 20 miles were fine but then my feet started killi ng me and I thought, ‘I would love to give up now’, but that was never going to happen.
“I’m doing this for a great charity and also f or my brother so there will definitely be no giving up.
“Chris will be i n my thoughts a l ot while I’m climbing. They won’t be sad thoughts but how he’d be laughing at me as I struggle along.
“He’s have been the first person to come and do it with me, though.”
Mr Davies left the Irish Guards in 2018 after a decade of service. Now a warehouse worker, he said the idea to do a mountain challenge came to him last summer after he decided to get back into fitness training.
John expects to climb a mountain al most every weekend in 2021.
He said after his brother was killed he “kept sane” thanks to the support of the servicemen around him.
He added: “A lot of veterans don’t have this sort of support and struggle with a wide range of problems while still serving and even more so once they’ve left.
“Veterans Lifeline do amazing work.”