Three generations of East Lancs family summit Snowdon

Pulmonary fibrosis is a terminal illness which Simon Johnson, 65, from Mellor, is currently living with and is waiting on a lung transplant for.

And on Saturday, brother-in-law Paul Blackledge, 76, along with Simon’s nephews Gareth Bickam, 42, and Elliot Grimshaw, 32, and great-nephew’s Harry Bickham and Ethan Grimshaw, both 10, as well as brother-in-law David Hindle, climbed up Wales’ highest mountain to raise awareness and funds for charity Action for Pulmonary Fibrosis.

The team at the top of Mount Snowdon (Image: Public)

Pulmonary fibrosis is lung scarring and describes a group of interstitial lung diseases where the lungs become progressively stiffer and smaller, eventually leading to low oxygen levels in the blood. It affects around 70,000 people in the UK.

The team took the safest route up the mountain but unfortunately, due to mist, there were no views at the top, but they did manage to catch some along the way when there was sufficient breaks in the clouds.

Paul said: “We reached the summit but there were no views due to low cloud - to say I was shattered was an understatement. I couldn’t wait to get home for a warm bath.”

The youngest members of the team, Harry and Ethan, both 10, peaked in two hours and 40 minutes, which for their ages and sizes was an excellent time.

Elliot said, “it was a pleasure to do the climb”, with Ethan saying he had “an amazing time”.

With sponsorship coming from as far away as Canada, the group have raised almost £2,000, with pledges coming in daily.

Each member of the team had a sponsorship form but anyone wishing to sponsor the group can do so directly through the donation page at actionpulmonaryfibrosis.org.