Double amputee crawls Ben Nevis to raise money for children who have lost limbs

A double amputee has crawled up the UK’s highest mountain to raise money for children who have also lost limbs.

Paul Ellis, from Widnes in Cheshire, had both legs amputated below the knee in 2008 as a result of breaking his spine.

Because of the injury, Paul’s legs had been fused at the ankle, meaning he could only stand for five minutes at a time.

After living in pain for years, Paul described the surgery as a ‘blessing’, and has credited it to getting his mobility back.

Paul Ellis / GoFundMe

In recent years, Paul has been tirelessly fundraising to send children affected by limb loss on holidays to Tenerife as part of the Amp Camp Kids scheme launched by Ben Lovell, who also lives with limb difficulties.

And most recently, Paul achieved the remarkable challenge of scaling Ben Nevis, spending twelve hours with Amp Camp workers and fellow amputees battling through snow and wind to reach the 4,413ft summit over the Easter weekend last week.

Incredibly, Paul’s efforts have so far raised over £33,000, which will be enough to send six children and their families to Amp Camp Kids for a luxury Tenerife holiday.

Amp Camp worker Keir Nicholson, who joined Paul on his mission, told The BBC of the climb: “Even the able-bodied people hit a wall on the way up Ben Nevis and wanted to give up.

GoFundMe

“We couldn’t have been prouder of Paul’s morning’s work. We’d smiled, laughed, sung and danced our way to base camp.”

He said after five hours of crawling over brutal terrain, Paul and the other climbers started the second stage of the journey.

He added: “Paul rolled up his shorts and crawled through the waterfall around the first looming bend of Ben Nevis and into the imposing zigzags.”

The Ben Nevis climb was also in memory of fundraiser Bailey Lindsay, who died of cancer aged twenty-three and had taken part in several Amp Camps and fundraising walks.

For more information and to donate to Paul’s climb, visit his GoFundMe fundraiser here.