Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Family to bag final 15 Munros for dad following ‘devastating’ MND diagnosis

Paul, Matt, and father David Choat at the summit of  Sgùrr a' Mhadaidh.
Paul, Matt, and father David Choat at the summit of Sgùrr a' Mhadaidh.

Four siblings are coming together to make their father’s dream of “bagging” nearly 300 mountains come true following his devastating MND diagnosis.

David Choat, 66, and his wife Judy have spent the last 25 years ticking off the Munros with the hopes of becoming part of the elite group of mountaineers who have summited all 282 peaks.

A year after his retirement in 2017, however, David was diagnosed with MND – a life-limiting, rapidly-progressing disease that affects the brain and mobility.

His son Paul, 34, said Mr Choat had been looking forward to retirement with the prospect of completing the remaining 15 Munros.

However, his condition made it nearly impossible for him to continue.

It was then that his four children – Paul, Matt, Becky and Adam – came together and decided they would take on the challenge in their father’s name, all the while raising money and awareness for MND.

Paul said: “Mum and dad have always been quite outdoorsy. As far as I can remember, we were always being dragged up mountains left, right and centre growing up.

“I think mum always enjoyed the walking and the scenery, but for dad it became more of a competition.

“Sometime in 2000, he got hold of a map with the tick boxes and decided he would mark off each Munro.

“After dad retired in 2016, the idea was that they could take their time doing the last Munros, but then a year later dad got the devastating diagnosis.

“The news sent shockwaves through our family and is something we are still coming to terms with.

“They’ve tried to go up a few mountains since then but the disease takes a hold so quickly that there’s no way to get up anymore.”

Paul added that his father is fiercely competitive and when it came to summiting, the box on his map wouldn’t get ticked unless he reached the highest point of the mountain.

Over Christmas, the four siblings got together and decided to get their father over the finish line – with mum Judy leading the way.

“For mum, she didn’t want to complete it without dad there – so that’s when we proposed doing them on his behalf,” he said.

“We’re determined to finish it while raising funds for MND research through the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation.

“We’re all scattered around, with one of my brothers in London, so, we’ve got some logistics to work through.

“We want this to be a real family event, every time we come together.”

The siblings will reunite in June on Skye where they hope to tackle two Munros followed by the Loch Mullardoch Munros in August.

To find out more information about the Choat family’s final 15 Munros challenge and how to donate, visit www.munros4mnd.co.uk.