'The NHS saved me,' says teen who's played the bagpipes on 282 Munros
As Joel Davey stood atop Ben Lomond and took in the view over the loch in the driving rain and wind, it marked the end of a record-breaking challenge to scale all 282 Munros in a year – and play the bagpipes at the peak of each one.
The astonishing feat was the 18-year-old's way to give back to the British Heart Foundation (BHF), by raising money for the charity that saved his life after he had open heart surgery as a baby for a rare disorder.
The operation allowed him to enjoy a rough-and-tumble childhood, including playing rugby, cross-country running and, of course, climbing hills.
By the age of 11 he had already scaled Monte Cinto, the highest mountain in Corsica, where he played Highland Cathedral on his bagpipes.
After taking stock of just how much the surgery had given him in life, he decided to repeat the feat on each Munro – Scottish mountains over 3,000ft – in one year and play a few notes of the same stirring tune on every summit.
Mr Davey, from Fife, said: 'I love the tune and it brings me to tears, but I've now heard it 12 times a day after lugging an out-of-tune bagpipe up 282 Munros.
'For a Scottish instrument it really doesn't like the rain.'
Last year Mr Davey, battled 90mph winds on the Cuillin Ridge on the Isle of Skye, where he was roped to the summit of the Inaccessible Pinnacle so he could blast Highland Cathedral into the gale.
His epic endeavour is all the more impressive as he broke his back shortly before sitting his Highers.
Despite being in pain he got impressive results that earned a place at Aberdeen University to study Ancient History and Archaeology.
He tackled the climbs during a gap year before starting university.
His father Dan, who climbed the last Munro with Mr Davey, said: 'It's an incredible achievement – he's a young man with a sense of moral responsibility who wanted to give back for his life being saved. I'm proud of him.'
Mr Davey said he was 'quite sad to have finished as it was so freeing to be up in the mountains'.
David McColgan, head of BHF Scotland, said: 'We couldn't be more thankful or prouder of this extraordinary young man.'
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