Teens complete Three Peaks in memory of friend

Max Whitelaw and Andrew Fairhurst have finished the challenge their friend planned

Two teenagers have completed a mountain challenge in memory of their friend who died nine weeks ago.

Matthew Adams had planned to do the Three Peaks Challenge with his friends but died from an extremely rare cancer which affects only two in a million people.

Since his diagnosis in December 2022, the 18-year-old from Tynemouth took on many adventures in the hope of carrying on as normally as possible.

The young air cadet finished the 84-mile (134km) Hadrian's Wall path last August, took part in long-distance bike rides, sat his GCSEs and finished his A-level studies.

But the neuroendocrine cancer paraganglioma spread through his abdomen and his health declined rapidly in the Easter school holidays.

"He was somebody who always had a sense of humour, he was always there for you if you needed and he was very popular and reliable," said Matthew's mother Jane Hall.

"We are very proud of him."

Matthew Adams reached the rank of Cadet Warrant Officer with the 346 (Tynemouth) Squadron Air Cadets

Ms Hall said she still feels like "he might walk through the door still and he hasn't really gone away".

"I talk to him in my head all the time, I tell him what I am doing."

Her son's close friends, Andrew Fairhurst and Max Whitelaw, both 18 and also from Tynemouth, decided to continue with Matthew's plan for the Three Peaks Challenge and hike the highest mountains in England, Scotland and Wales.

They had already scaled the 3,560ft (1,085m) of Snowdon in Wales and the 3,210ft (978m) of Scafell in Cumbria. Earlier they took on the might of Ben Nevis, the highest of the three at 4,413ft (1,345m).

Jane Hall helped organise the fundraising in memory of her son

Ms Hall has helped organise the fundraising efforts for the Teenage Cancer Trust and the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle.

"I am very proud of Andrew and Max taking on the Three Peaks," she said.

"It was something Matthew wanted to do. Right up until Easter he was still planning doing it."

The hope is to raise awareness of paraganglioma, a rarity in someone of Matthew's age and with a genetic link.

It presented as tumours in his abdomen - discovered when he went into hospital with a suspected burst appendix - but the cancer was untreatable as it had already begun to spread.

Matthew Adams has been described by his friend as "funny, loyal, honest, supportive, kind, trustworthy, generous, smart, positive and unfailingly polite"

"It is quite unique not having him here with us," Andrew said.

"I am sure he would have loved it if he was and there would have been lots of laughing."

Max said the whole plan was Matthew's idea.

"He was the one that came up with the massive trips and bike trips so it is a nice way to honour him."

As they trekked up the rocky paths, Andrew and Max wore t-shirts bearing Matthew's picture.

"When they get to each peak, if they are wearing the t-shirts, there is a little bit of him there with them," Ms Hall said.

The friends tackled both Snowdon and Scafell before climbing the largest of the three peaks, Ben Nevis

On the friends' online fundraising page, Max says the death of a friend they have known since they were little "has left a massive hole in the lives of everyone who knew him".

The teenagers have so far raised more than ten times their £1,000 target.