Michael Anderson has made it to the top of Ben Nevis

Michael Anderson has made it to the top of Ben Nevis

A deaf-blind grandfather successfully summited Britain’s highest mountain today.

Michael Anderson, a 70-year-old, from Larbert near Falkirk, was accompanied on his trip by his daughter Fiona, her partner, and writer and backpacking enthusiast Phil Turner.

The climb to the 1,344m (4,409ft) summit was made to raise funds for Deafblind Scotland, of which Mr Anderson is vice-chair.

According to Phil Turner, the party reached the summit about 1pm today with Mr Anderson suffering nothing worse than a grazed shin.

The Surrey-born father of three has Usher’s Syndrome, which meant he was born with impaired hearing and developed retinitis pigmentosa as a teenager.

He was officially registered as blind at the age of 33 but took to walking the hills around his then Berwickshire home such as the Lammermuirs and the Cheviots.

Cash raised on the Ben Nevis climb will go towards a £1¼m training centre for the charity.

He said before today’s event: “I realised that I had to do something different, hence the Ben Nevis climb.

“Having met some of the team who will be making this challenge possible, I am raring to go and very much looking forward to our adventure.”

Donations to their justgiving page are currently halfway to their £4,000 target.

The team is now making its way back down the mountain.

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