"It's indescribable losing your child": Scots dad cycles 'Everest' on Father's Day in memory of his 3-week-old son

  • Video report by Clare McNeill.

A dad from the Borders is preparing to cycle the equivalent height of Mount Everest, in memory of his son, Alex, who died at just three weeks old.

Richard Skipworth is taking on the challenge this Father's Day, raising money for three charities which supported the family while Alex was in hospital and in the years since their loss."I decided to try and 'Everest' on my bike," explains Richard, who lives in Oxton near Lauder, in the Scottish Borders."For the benefit of people who don't know what that is, it's finding a road climb somewhere and riding up and down it until to you achieve the height of Everest."

On Sunday Richard will ride up and down a road he's chosen in Perthshire, on the banks of Loch Tay winding up the south flank of the munro Ben Lawers, 29 times to achieve 29,029 feet - and hopes to complete it in 17 hours.

He's taking on the mammoth feat for a reason very close to his heart. In February 2018, shortly after he was born, doctors found a problem with little Alex's heart. He passed away at just 3 weeks old.

Dad Richard Skipworth will cycle the equivalent height of Mount Everest on Father's Day

"It's indescribable losing your child, we were just absolutely knocked out by it."For the first 30 hours of his life we thought he was a healthy little boy but unfortunately his checks just before he was to be released from the Borders General found he had a severe congenital heart problem. "Within hours he was whisked away in an ambulance to Glasgow Children's Hospital. And at two days old he was undergoing open heart surgery, 13 hours of open heart surgery. "He fought his way through that and they corrected the defect in his heart but over the next three weeks he was just too wee, and not strong enough to pull through the recovery phase of the operation."

Richard says he now wants to give something back.

He says that many charities have had it tough throughout the pandemic without their usual fundraising events and he wants to ensure they are still able to do their incredible work and support families in the way they did his.

Richard's last cuddle with his three week old son Alex

He's raising money for the Glasgow Children's Hospital Charity, the Ronald McDonald House which is a home away from home for parents facing long stays in hospital with their children, and for Held in our Hearts which provides counselling and supports families who've experienced baby loss.He says without their support, families like his wouldn't make it through such dark times.

Richard will be cheered on by his wife Katy and his two other children, five-year-old Robyn and Brodie who's almost one.

He calls cycling his "Alex time," and says it's really helped him cope with his grief and look after his mental health. "Every time I do something like this, a challenge on my bike, I feel like I'm making memory of Alex as well. "Alex can't be here with us but he's always in my mind when I'm riding so it's a way of keeping him with us, we say this is for Alex, I just want a bit of legacy for him too."

Richard with son Alex and daughter Robyn who's now five, in 2018.

And this weekend's 29,000 foot challenge has thrown up a strange coincidence. Richard says Father's Day also marks 29,000 hours since Alex passed. "There’s lots of these connections with numbers that I’ve found over time since Alex died, these strange coincidences with Alex."So this, he feels, is a fitting tribute to his memory, and a way of making sure a little part of Father's Day this year, is carved out for just he and Alex.

To support Richard you can visit this website.

And if you've been affected by anything in this article you can seek support at: