Bereaved parents in Three Peaks boiler challenge

A heating engineer has carried a boiler up Britain's three highest mountains to raise thousands of pounds for a hospital charity in memory of his daughter who was stillborn.

Oliver and his wife Georgina took on the National Three Peaks Challenge - climbing Ben Nevis, Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) and Scafell Pike - in support of the Sheffield Hospitals Charity.

They wanted to raise funds for the bereavement suite and Tulip Room quiet space at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital, following the loss of their daughter Ophelia, who was born at 34 weeks in March.

Oliver, 38, said carrying the 4st (25kg) boiler represented the "weight of grief" felt by bereaved families.

He said: "I thought I needed to do something constructive and give something back to the charities that helped us so much."

The couple scaled the mountains in 21 hours and 27 minutes in July, raising more than £14,500.

They were referred to the Jessop Wing at the Royal Hallamshire after complications arose during Georgina's pregnancy with Ophelia.

After their daughter was born, Georgina and Oliver were able to spend time with her in the Tulip Room, a space designed to support bereaved parents, before later visiting her in the hospital's bereavement suite.

Oliver said he was inspired to take on a fundraising challenge while the couple were still at the hospital.

Georgina said she realised he was serious after he told one of the bereavement midwives about his plan.

"I just thought it was absolutely crazy, but I know my husband and I knew he'd do it," she said.

The couple, from Retford in Nottinghamshire, trained for months in the Peak District, with Oliver initially carrying weights in a rucksack before switching to the boiler once it had been fitted with a harness.

Georgina, 35, said the training helped them to begin processing their grief, and also allowed them to spend time with their three-year-old daughter Elysia.

The family started a tradition that began in the bereavement suite of blowing bubbles in memory of Ophelia.

They repeated the gesture at her funeral and again on the summit of each mountain during the challenge.

"The NHS provides the space, but it's the charities that provide everything in it," Oliver said.

"We've just been through living hell.

"I wanted to do something that would help other families who find themselves in the same position."

Greg van Heeswijk, director of fundraising at Sheffield Hospitals Charity, said: "There's something particularly poignant about the fact that Ophelia's name means 'help' or 'aid'.

"Through everything Ollie and Georgina are doing in her memory, her name and her legacy will help other families facing similar experiences in the future."

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