ADVENTUROUS Barnton dad David Healey braved temperatures of minus 20 degrees centigrade to support a charity close to his heart.

David and his friend Darren Pennell from Comberbach climbed the 4,800-metre Mont Blanc last month in The French Alps as part of a fundraising drive for the Duchenne Breakthrough Fund.

Five years ago David and his wife Gail were given the devastating news that their 10-year-old son Dillon had Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and wanted to raise money to support research into the disease.

“This terrible genetic disease affects Dillon’s life every day, robbing him of his strength and making the simplest of things hard or beyond his reach,” said David, a maintenance technician at TATA Chemicals.

“Life will only get worse for Dillon, but there is hope, scientists and researchers are working hard to find treatments and hopefully a cure.

“This research is very expensive, so Darren and I did the Mont Blanc Traverse to raise money for this research and to hopefully give Dillon a chance of a better and longer life.

“It was minus 20 at the summit of Mont Blanc, with 40 mile an hour winds, but the views were absolutely amazing.

“We have a Just Giving online page - justgiving.com/david-healey5 - and are hoping to raise a thousand pounds for this charity.

“The Duchenne Breakthrough Fund funds research into finding treatments and hopefully a desperately-needed cure - please give what you can, Dillon is counting on it.”

The Healey family have been raising money for muscular dystrophy research since 2011, when David and his daughter Ella did a 15-mile walk round the Wirral coastline.

Gail took part in the Liverpool Half Marathon the following year, and in 2013 David performed a tandem skydive from 14,000 feet in the Lake District for the Breakthrough Fund.

The Alpine route David and Darren took started from the Cosmiques Hut and crossed three 4,000-metre mountains in the Alps - Mont Blanc du Tacal at 4,248 metres, Mont Maudit at 4,465 metres and Mont Blanc, standing at 4,807 metres - before descending the Gouter Ridge.

Mont Blanc is the highest mountain in The Alps and the highest peak in Europe outside the Caucasus range at almost four times the height of Ben Nevis.

In May Northwich Guardian readers helped mum Gail win a place in the final of a garden makeover competition.

Dillon attends Hebden Green School, and his condition makes it difficult for him to use the steps to the garden at his home.

Gail was hoping to install a ramp to the garden if she won a competition run by MyBuilder.com, and votes flooded in for her entry after she contacted her friends and her story featured in the Guardian.