Fell runner raises over £1,500 for little Darcy

Micheal Healy took on Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis to raise money for young relative Darcy Ratchford, after the three-year-old was diagnosed with a very rare progressive brain disease called metachromatic leukodystrophy, earlier this year.

After her parents, Niomi Horrocks and Adam Ratchford, were told no cure was available and her life expectancy is five to eight years, Mr Healy set himself the challenge to raise funds for specialist equipment and to give the family as much quality time as possible

The Preston 30-year-old said: “I’m absolutely honoured to have done this for Darcy. It’s not the most comfortable thing, but there is no comparison to the pain the family is going through.”

Metachromatic leukodystrophy causes fatty substances to build up in cells, which is caused by a deficiency of an enzyme that helps break down lipids, called sulfatides.

This leads to the brain and nervous system progressively losing function because the substance that covers and protects the nerve cells is damaged.

Currently it is slowly affecting Darcy’s mobility and speech, due to it destroying the white matter around her brain, while it can also cause difficulty swallowing and blindness.

Despite Saturday’s poor weather, Mr Healy was able to record a time of 23 hours 26 minutes.

He said: “The conditions on the last mountain were the worst I’ve ever experienced. My feet and legs are sore now but it is nothing I wasn’t expecting.

“I’m going to have a bit of a break now, but I’m definitely going to push myself further in a new challenge, but I don’t think that will be until next year.”

Darcy’s parents expressed their gratitude for Mr Healy’s efforts.

They said: “It is amazing. Thank you so much Michael for doing this for Darcy.”

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