Mountain challenge ahead for Dudley schoolboy to raise money for NHS

Toby Mulligan is climbing the equivalent of the height of Mount Everest by climbing the stairs at his home in Kingswinford.

The 16-year-old, who is deputy head boy at Summerhill School in Kingswinford, will ascend and descend the stairs of his home 301 times a day until June 30, a total of 7,221 times up and down the stairs.

He said he wanted to take on the challenge to help the NHS after it saved the lives of his mother Emma and his grandmother Heather, who nearly died from a hereditary liver disease.

He said: "Both had had major, life-threatening conditions and were so well looked after by the NHS, so I thought, especially during lockdown, it would be good to give back to thank them.

"So far, it's going really well and I've got the first day out of the way, so I am determined to carry on and give something back to the incredible NHS that we have."

His mother Emma said she had nearly died following a ruptured ectopic pregnancy back in 2013 and had to have her stomach removed two years later and a new one made from the bottom of her oesophagus.

She said she was immensely proud of her son for taking on a challenge like this.

She said: "It was all his own idea and I just helped him with the calculations to make sure that we've got the number of stairs and the distance right.

"I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for the NHS, so it just makes me really proud that a 16-year-old just wants to do something as big as this.

"He'll never say it as he's very modest, but I certainly think he could inspire people and get other teenagers who sit around gaming all day to do something positive."

Toby is aiming to raise £500 for NHS charities and has set up a Just Giving page for people to donate to, which can be found at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/tobymulligan