Six-year-old boy climbs 12 peaks for poorly children

A six-year-old boy has climbed Britain’s 12 highest peaks to raise money for a children’s hospice.

Oscar Burrow, 6, from Lancaster has raised more than £31,000 for Derian House by climbing the UK’s 12 highest mountains, scaling the equivalent of Mount Everest.

The schoolboy decided to take on the challenge to raise money for ‘poorly children to go on holiday’ and has told his dad, Matt Burrow, 38, he someday wants ‘to be the youngest person to climb Everest’.

Having already scaled Scafell Pike and Snowdon, Oscar made it to Ben Nevis’s summit at 13:00 BST. Dad, Matt said he and his son had set off at about 08:00 ‘in glorious sunshine’ and had very much enjoyed the final leg of their journey.

Speaking ahead of his final climb to the 12th peak, Oscar said: “It’s the biggest mountain in the UK and there might be snow on the top.”

Oscar was given a special award by staff at Derian House, which provides respite and end-of-life care to more than 400 children across the North West of England, as a thank you for his hard work.

Oscar said: “I got a very special badge and I want to take it to school,” adding: “I want poorly children to go swimming on their holiday.”

Oscar spoke of many favourite moments during his challenge, saying: “(When I did Helvellyn in the Lake District), I almost blew off and grandad and daddy had to hold on to me.”

Oscar said he liked climbing Glyder Fawr, in Snowdonia, because ‘it was really steep and you have to climb up sections with your hands’.

He added that he found climbing Cairn Gorm, in Scotland, the ‘hardest’ because of the deep snow, adding: “We made a giant snowball bigger than me and rolled it down the hill!”

Mr Burrow said: “Oscar has always been active, he plays rugby, swims, rides [a] bike, he has this crazy endurance and never ending energy.

“He had been learning about Sir Edmund Hillary, one of the first men to conquer Mount Everest, in school and decided that he wanted to be the youngest to ever conquer it.

“I explained to him why this might be a little bit tricky, but I didn’t want to dash his dreams, so we came up with a plan to climb the highest mountains in Great Britain.”

Oscar has also been accompanied on his quest by his 37-year-old mum Kim, and grandad Mark, 67. And his three-year-old sister Ada — who has also made several appearances.

Kerry Pritchard, from Derian House, thanked the ‘courageous superstar’ saying: “Oscar is very brave and we’ve been enjoying seeing photos of him at the top of each mountain.”