Man climbs 31 Munros to aid fellow climber with Parkinson's

Frank McGavigan (right) who has Parkinson's disease, with fellow climber Clive Parker. Picture: SWNS

Clive Parker, 63, took on the challenge after friend Frank McGavigan was stopped in his quest to bag every Munro by the disease.

For Frank, he only had 31 of the Munros left to climb when he was diagnosed seven years ago.

Clive wanted to finish out what his friend had set out to do and managed to complete the impressive feat within a matter of weeks to raise £2,500 on behalf of their favourite charity Doctors Without Borders.

After braving Scotland’s traditional mixed bag of summer weather, Clive bagged all 31 Munros, reaching the top of ‘A’ Ghlas-bheinn in the Highlands on Tuesday, July 25.

His first climb took place on May 2 when he reached the summit of Derry Cairngorm in Aberdeenshire.

Clive said: “When I started in May there was still a lot of snow lying on the Cairngorms and I had no idea how long it would take me to climb these 31 Munros.

“People have been really generous and about half a dozen on the hills spontaneously handed me money”.

Frank said: “I’ve been thinking about these 31 Munros ever since.

“This really has been all about raising money. Clive has done the most amazing achievement since May, climbing them all.”

Frank has been coping better with Parkinson’s but no longer has the confidence to attempt to climb a Munro.

He said: “The Munros I had left to do were all way up north. I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease seven years ago.

“I’m not too bad at the moment but being unsteady on my feet, it’s not sensible to do this.

“You also lose your confidence. There was a time when it didn’t bother me scrambling over rocks.

“You also don’t want to put other people in the position of having to be responsible for you.”