The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
A grandad died just hours after a group including young relatives climbed Ben Nevis to raise money for the disease to which he succumbed.
David “Manny” Mercer, (76, pictured), of Havelock Street, Spalding, died from prostate cancer on August 3 – two days after the eight climbers achieved their aim.
The group, including his grandchildren Meggan Mercer (21), Joe Fowler (14) and Annie Fowler (12), managed a gruelling 11-mile hike to the summit of the highest mountain in Scotland.
Also doing the fundraiser were Josh Mercer (24), his girlfriend Rebecca Wilson and Meggan’s friends Chloe Scotney, Kieran Scotney and Tom Yianni.
Meggan said: “Sadly Grandad died at 4am on [the] Monday morning but he was aware that we made it to the top and that we made it safely back to the Fens.
“He said that he was proud of us all.”
The group endured very cold temperatures to reach the top, but the sense of achievement was huge.
Meggan said: “It is such an amazing feeling to think we made it to the top and earned ever penny of our sponsorship but as Kieran put it ‘we seriously underestimated the mountain’.
“Chloe lost the feeling in her left hand, my lips had gone numb and none of us thought Joe was going to make it home.”
The group’s climb on August 1 came after an overnight camp following a 12-hour trip to nearby Kinlochleven.
The first hour of the ascent really made the muscles in the group’s legs burn.
Meggan said: “The halfway point of the trail is Red Rock Waterfall which we managed to get to after two hours of walking, so we were making excellent time even though by this time it was raining heavily.
“Then the trail disappeared beyond the clouds. We were wet, cold and hungry. We tried to stop for lunch but because we stopped we got colder so we had to eat on the go.”
At one point visibility was down to about ten metres.
“As the temperature kept dropping and the snow started to fall, our pace was slowing,” said Meggan. “People who were coming down from the summit were telling us to turn around because the weather was getting dangerous. We couldn’t stop because the rest of the team was in front and still climbing.
“The snow had started to fall and soon we found ourselves standing in snow in August!”
Eventually the group achieved their aim but was so cold that there was no desire to stay long.
“Very quickly we grabbed someone to take our picture and for the four and a half hours it took us to get there it only took us half a second to realise we were too cold, dangerously cold,” said Meggan. “We needed to get out of the clouds fast.
“Once we came out of the clouds and felt the sun once more we instantly warmed up. Walking down was endlessly more easy than walking up so we were able to appreciate the place we were in and reflect on our insane determination to reach the top.”
The group, which is still collecting sponsorship, so far has around £600.
Anyone wishing to donate can do so at the team’s Virgin Money Giving page www.virginmoneygiving.com/team/manny
“Manny” was diagnosed with prostate cancer last November.
After retiring from Anglian Water, he worked for Spalding business AP Sales.
Retired founder Alan Porter said: “There was only one David Mercer. He worked for me for 20 years and he would do anything.
“He was very conscientious, a wonderful guy and I shall miss him dearly.”
