The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Despite being suddenly left paralysed from the waist down, a Long Sutton mum of six has set herself a target to climb Snowdon.
As previously reported, doctors are unsure why Charlotte Bates has been left in a wheelchair and officially classed as T6 paraplegic having lost most of her bodily functions from the waist down.
It’s left her struggling to cope with the care of her 12-year-old daughter Alice who has cerebral palsy and epilepsy after a bleed on the brain at birth.
The Bates family have rallied around to help out at home and as she’s got used to her condition, Charlotte has began to look at conquering the next literal mountain.
She and a team will climb the 3,500ft Mount Snowdon in Wales on July 4 next year.
It’s part of the Back Up Trust’s Snowdon Push where teams of ten to 15 people climb the mountain with one person who is in a wheelchair.
Special climbing ropes will help the team push and pull Charlotte up the most difficult bits of the mountain along the eight-mile trail.
But she’s determined to do as much of it on her own as possible and training on hills for the event has already started.
The Back Up Trust aims to support those, like Charlotte, with spinal injuries as they get used to their new lives.
“It’s me and my team of friends and a few members of the family getting up the mountain to raise funds for the Back Up Trust,” Charlotte said. “I’ve been training recently with wheelchair skills
“I’m determined to continue to do as much as I can.
“I want to be as independent as possible.”
Charlotte was initially told that a slipped disk was the problem after her mobility problems continued to get worse after she first needed a wheelchair on a family holiday to Disneyland 18 months ago.
“It’s been a tough time,” she said. “But I’ve had fantastic support from the family.”
