Bereaved dad climbs Greek mountain 50 times

Ben Moorhouse, from Halifax, climbed a mountain on Rhodes 50 times on Sunday, a week after walking 120 miles from Gateshead to Manchester

A Halifax man has completed two extraordinary physical challenges, amounting to 170 miles (274km), in memory of his baby daughter.

Ben Moorhouse walked non-stop from the Angel of the North in Gateshead to Manchester on 12 July, before boarding a plane a week later to the Greek island of Rhodes, where he climbed a mountain 50 times over the course of 13 hours.

The 42-year-old's daughter, Kallipateira, was stillborn at 37 weeks in 2018.

Mr Moorhouse, who has raised more than £13,000 from the challenge, said he wanted to open up conversations around baby loss to help other grieving parents.

The money raised will go to Tommy's Rainbow Clinic in Manchester to fund research into preventing stillbirths.

Mr Moorhouse's partner Gaynor Thomson gave birth to their son Apollon there in 2020.

Mr Moorhouse said he managed to complete both challenges with the help of some "Yorkshire grit and determination".

Mr Moorhouse and Miss Thomson's son Apollon was born at Tommy's Rainbow Clinic, for whom they are raising money to help research into preventing stillbirths

He said: "It was a massive mental test, but we managed to get through both.

"At the moment there's a Greek heatwave so temperatures were 40C and above.

"There was no shade whatsoever.

"It was absolutely brutal.

"My feet were aching quite a bit last night and my knee was swollen.

"But compared to what some people in the world are dealing with, it's trivial.

"The power of love for my daughter kept me going when the going got tough.

"I just reminded myself why I was doing it."

Mr Moorhouse is no stranger to extreme physical challenges, having completed several over the last decade.

But his preparation for this task was complicated by injury, as he damaged cruciate ligaments in his right knee just nine weeks beforehand, hampering his training plans.

He could not even walk in a straight line until four weeks beforehand.

But despite suffering "severe cramps" in his calf on Prophet Elias Monastery Mountain, he managed to complete his 50th and final ascent just after 19:00 local time (17:00 BST) on Sunday.

Mr Moorhouse, who works for a housing association, said: "I don't very often say I'm proud of myself because I'm quite humble about what I do, but I gave myself a pat on the back when I finished, because it's been a tough year with injury."

Mr Moorhouse climbed Prophet Elias Monastery Mountain 50 times on Sunday

He and Miss Thomson set up the Kallipateira Moorhouse Foundation to fund the research at Tommy's Rainbow Clinic, which they said would benefit parents across the UK.

The clinic offers specialist care for women who have suffered a previous stillbirth or neonatal death.

Mr Moorhouse said the subject of stillbirths was often "brushed under the carpet" and that friends and neighbours of grieving parents often struggled to know how to help.

"To put yourself in that person's shoes, I understand, is such a difficult thing to do," he said.

"But this happens every single day to parents all around the UK.

"You don't have to have a big conversation about what's happened, just a simple acknowledgement to say, 'I'm thinking of you, I'm here if you need anything'.

"Not saying something is far worse than saying something you think is wrong."

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