Carlisle chaplain raises £10,000 cycling the height of Everest in his living room

Credit ITV News
Tim Burdon spent Boxing Day cycling the height of Everest in his living room Credit: ITV News

The Chaplain of Trinity School in Carlisle has raised over £10,000 cycling the height of Everest in his living room on Boxing Day.

While most people were relaxing and eating leftovers, Tim Burdon cycled over 200km, up the 8,848m height of Everest, to raise money for more research into Motor Neurone Disease which affects one of his friends.

Speaking about the challenge, Tim said: "It does make it feel like you're climbing so the computer talks to the trainer that my bike's on and it adjusts the resistance to make it harder for me on steeper gradients.

"I knew it would be horrible. I love riding my bike outdoors so I could have said oh I'll go and do a really long bike ride and I'd have had a nice time but actually sitting indoors on Boxing Day all day didn't sound hard but it needed to be hard.

Tim's friend David Crellin is one of 5,000 people in the UK living with the disease. It affects 1 in 300 people.

David (right) and his son Joe, who has an 80% chance of developing the disease Credit: Dave and Joe Crellin

David says he was diagnosed with the condition after noticing he was struggling to play instruments. Speaking on the livestream of the cycle ride, he said: "Playing the bodhran, the beater kept coming out of my hand.

"[I thought] that's odd! Picked up my guitar, plectrum, coming out of my hand, so I went to see the doctor".

David's son Joe has the same gene, so has an 80% chance of developing MND. According to Motor Neurone Disease Association, six people are diagnosed daily and it claims six lives every day.Tim and his friend Carolyn have raised over £10,000 for researching a cure.