Youngster fends off snakes during Mersea charity walk

Determined Oscar Neill, who is only six, originally wanted to sell his toys to support people fleeing the war-torn country, but instead decided to channel his inner Captain Tom.

Young Oscar circumnavigated his home of Mersea Island – a total of 13 miles – in a nod to the war veteran’s efforts which raised more than £30 million for the NHS.

The youngster’s walk was fraught with hazards as he evaded two adders and suffered a cut to his leg after slipping on a rock, but he remained staunchly undeterred.

His mum, Kirsty said her caring son, who attends Mersea Island School, had originally been left upset hearing what’s going on in Ukraine and wanted to undertake the walk to help raise money.

But it didn’t go as smoothly as planned, as Kirsty explained: “About four kilometres into the walk, my husband spotted an adder and then, right in Oscar’s path, he saw a second.

Team effort - Oscar walks alongside his dad

“Oscar saw it and screamed and the snake jumped up, I guess it wasn’t used to people being at that part of the island.

“Later on we had to walk across some rocks and Oscar slipped on some seaweed and cut his leg. There was blood running down it and tears streaming down his face, we were ready to call it off.

“However, he said he wanted to finish the walk and hobbled off to continue the last eight kilometres we had to complete.”

Fuelled by an ice cream and crowds of enthusiastic support from his friends, Oscar pushed on and managed to finish his marathon effort in eight hours and 14 minutes.

Proud mum Kirsty added: “He suffers with anxiety and from when he saw the adder he was on edge. To then cut his leg like that and carry on shows his determination.

“He had the opportunity to give up but he refused to do so.

“We learnt something new about him that day, Oscar is only six but he’s got such resilience and determination. We are just so proud of him.”