‘Incredibly emotional’ - hero dad from Bristol walks up Ben Nevis with blind son on his back

A father from Bristol heroically carried his blind son up Britain’s tallest mountain to raise money money for research into a rare genetic condition.

Adam Alderman took his son Cameron, 10, up Ben Nevis in a special backpack. Cameron was born with rare genetic condition Norrie disease which means he’s been blind since an early age, deaf in his right ear since the age of three and is progressively losing hearing in his left.

Adam, 36, also walked up with Cameron’s mother Carla, 33. The family from Bradley Stoke were led by friend and mountain leader Matt Roberts. And they raised money for research Norrie disease.

Carla said: “It was incredibly emotional and exhausting. It was very challenging, even more so for Adam and the toll carrying Cameron took on his body.

“He had to carry him over very steep, rough terrain. About halfway through, he swapped with Matt, who carried Cameron the rest of the way.”

As a second stage of the challenge, Matt will be cycling all the way back from Ben Nevis to Bradley Stoke. Cameron made it up three-quarters of the way up the mountain but had to stop because of bad weather and snow.

A ‘Cameron doll’ was placed at the top in his honour.

Carla said. “Adam then had the difficult task of getting Cameron safe back down. I had a knitted doll designed to look like my son - and I placed it at the top and left it there.

“Even though Cameron didn’t make it to the top, it was an amazing journey and he made it so far.”

In total, it took the family five hours to reach the summit.

Carla and Adam hope to raise £10,000 for the Norrie Foundation - a charity based at Great Ormond Street conducting research into hearing loss.

“We desperately want that research to continue - and without funds, it will be halted,” she said.

The fundraising page is here: https://justgiving.com/fundraising/one-hundred-strong-official