Halifax dad Ben Moorhouse completes Rhodes mountain climb
The money raised will go to Tommy's Rainbow Clinic in Manchester to fund research into preventing stillbirths.Mr Moorhouse's partner Gaynor Thomson gave birth to their son Apollon there in 2020.Mr Moorhouse said he managed to complete both challenges with the help of some "Yorkshire grit and determination".
He said: "It was a massive mental test, but we managed to get through both."At the moment there's a Greek heatwave so temperatures were 40C and above."There was no shade whatsoever."It was absolutely brutal."My feet were aching quite a bit last night and my knee was swollen."But compared to what some people in the world are dealing with, it's trivial."The power of love for my daughter kept me going when the going got tough."I just reminded myself why I was doing it."Mr Moorhouse is no stranger to extreme physical challenges, having completed several over the last decade. But his preparation for this task was complicated by injury, as he damaged cruciate ligaments in his right knee just nine weeks beforehand, hampering his training plans.He could not even walk in a straight line until four weeks beforehand.But despite suffering "severe cramps" in his calf on Prophet Elias Monastery Mountain, he managed to complete his 50th and final ascent just after 19:00 local time (17:00 BST) on Sunday.Mr Moorhouse, who works for a housing association, said: "I don't very often say I'm proud of myself because I'm quite humble about what I do, but I gave myself a pat on the back when I finished, because it's been a tough year with injury."
He and Miss Thomson set up the Kallipateira Moorhouse Foundation to fund the research at Tommy's Rainbow Clinic, which they said would benefit parents across the UK. The clinic offers specialist care for women who have suffered a previous stillbirth or neonatal death.Mr Moorhouse said the subject of stillbirths was often "brushed under the carpet" and that friends and neighbours of grieving parents often struggled to know how to help. "To put yourself in that person's shoes, I understand, is such a difficult thing to do," he said."But this happens every single day to parents all around the UK."You don't have to have a big conversation about what's happened, just a simple acknowledgement to say, 'I'm thinking of you, I'm here if you need anything'."Not saying something is far worse than saying something you think is wrong."
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