THEY set off at midnight to climb the last few thousand feet. Altitude sickness had set in and they had thought about turning back.

But as the sun rose over Mount Kilimanjaro, Mike Holland, of Carr Hall Road, Barrowford, was given a plaque to leave at the top in memory of his stillborn daughter Mary.

Mike, 33, said: "The lads had carried a plaque engraved in memory of Mary all the way up without telling me. I was overwhelmed when they gave it to me.

"One day I want to go back again to see it."

Mike climbed the peak with nine friends and family to raise £40,000 for Burnley General Hospital where little Mary was born last year.

Mike and his wife Kate began planning the trip last December and they soon found there was not shortage of people to join Mike on the trek. They trained on Snowdonia, the Yorkshire Dales and Pendle Hill but were not prepared for the conditions they would face on the 20,000ft mountain.

Mike, 33, said: "We were all right until we got to 15,000 feet, where three or four members suffered altitude sickness and from there on we all suffered, there was nothing we could do to overcome it.

"You climb through the night in the pitch black with only a head torch to see the way, walking very slowly, and it's freezing cold. It's absolutely miserable.

"There was a mixture of emotions when we reached the top. Everyone felt immensely proud."

While Mike was climbing Kilimanjaro with his cousin and Kate's three brothers, Kate tackled Snowdonia with the wives, girlfriends, mothers and sisters. Like Mike, Kate was given a plaque to place in memory of Mary at the top.

The couple had already raised £3,500 for new equipment for the Edith Watson Maternity Unit and last night Mike and Kate handed over the £40,000 cheque to midwives at the Fence Gate Inn.

Part of it will be used to revamp the room where little Mary was born and it will be renamed the Mary Holland Suite.