Friends from Kneesall and York raise thousands for Muscular Dystrophy UK with Mount Kilimanjaro climb

Hiking up one of the world’s tallest mountains has seen two long-time friends raise thousands to tackle progressive degenerative condition.

Daniel Cooper, from Kneesall, and his friend of 30 years Paul McGann, have successfully climbed the highest mountain in Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro, to raise money for Muscular Dystrophy UK after Paul's son Frankie, 15, was diagnosed with Myotonic Dystrophy when he was just seven months old.

The pair set off on their challenge on Saturday October 12, flying to Tanzania ready to start their trek from the entrance to Kilimanjaro National Park on the Monday — which happens to be Dan’s 53rd birthday — with a group of 15 other challengers.

From there, the challengers took on a four-day trek up the immense mountain, getting up between 4.30am and 5am to hike up the steep mountain for up to nine hours a day.

The final climb to the top saw the group go to bed at 7pm the night before, to be woken up at midnight to make their way up to Stella Point, one of three official summit points on Mt Kilimanjaro, which peaks at 5,800metres.

They reached the summit at around 5am in time to watch the sunrise, but due to the high altitude, the group had to make it back down the mountain quickly as some of the team were suffering from altitude sickness.

Dan said it was the hardest thing, but the best thing, he’d ever done in his life:

“It was brutal, and I’d never been so tired in my life!” he said, “But it was amazing, 15 strangers coming together and being bonded together by the adversity and the experience.

“By the time we reached the top, we were all hugging and we’d been sharing stories the whole way.”

“If someone asked me to do it again tomorrow, I’d absolutely say yes.”

Dan and Paul have now raised more than £7,000 on their JustGiving page, and collectively the group of 15 challengers have now raised £90,000 between them.

You can still sponsor Dan and Paul via their JustGiving page at https://www.justgiving.com/team/kilicrazycats