A PARAMEDIC from Colchester is to climb the highest mountain in the British Isles with two later this month as part of a fundraiser for the Marie Curie charity.

Sally Rooks, who is 38-years-old and lives in Berechurch, will be accompanied by two fellow paramedics – 32-year-old Willow Carlisle from Point Clear and 24-year-old Tia Field from Clacton – as they look to scale Ben Nevis which is 4,413ft above sea level.

The trio have a tight working relationship – to be expected given they work long shifts together handling major emergencies – and they will be swapping the ambulance for the campervan when they travel to Scotland next Friday for the ascent the following day.

The suggestion of the mountain climb for charity came courtesy of Ms Carlisle, who herself has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro – it was therefore understandable when her two colleagues were slightly daunted at first to attempt Ben Nevis, even if it is a quarter of the height of Africa’s highest mountain.

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Ms Rooks said: “It’s a bit of a scary mountain if you are not prepared – at first it sounded fun, but soon I wanted to know how long it would take us and how much food I needed to take, because all these questions go through your head.

“We really had to convince Tia it was a good idea for us to do it – but we love a challenge, and it’s outdoors so I felt I was really up for that.”

The Marie Curie charity, too, is as good a reason as any to put oneself through the wringer that is Scottish weather on one of its most challenging peaks.

“Marie Curie organise fundraising trips up there and we thought that would be a really positive way of raising money.

“We go to a lot of people in end-of-life care, or people who are suffering from debilitating diseases or conditions that really need our support – it was a really good charity for us to get behind, so it snowballed from there.”

Any donations to Sally, Willow, and Tia’s fundraiser can be made via www.justgiving.com/team/GirlswhatSUP.