A COURAGEOUS Basingstoke dad took on a mountain of a mission when he climbed to the highest peak in Africa in memory of his son.

Mike Wilson spent seven days in Tanzania trekking to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, accompanied by his two brothers David and Andrew, and brother-in-law Will Reid.

They reached the summit last Friday for the Hope From Jayden campaign, raising funds for Naomi House Hospice after Mike's five-year-old son Jayden died of a brain tumour in December.

The campaign has so far raised more than £30,000 for the hospice, in Sutton Scotney.

Speaking to The Gazette about his latest mission, Mike said: “I had a mixture of emotions. It was by far the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life. Until you get to Kilimanjaro and you start climbing you really don’t understand how difficult both emotionally, physically and mentally it is. It blew us away.

“The hardest part was summit night. The previous day we had a short day of trekking in preparation. We set off at midnight on the Thursday going into Friday morning and we trekked for seven hours until sunrise at which point we were at the top. It was the most exhausting thing. It took us five minutes to walk five metres, that’s how exhausted we were.

“When you are looking at all the views and the sunrise it’s so worth it and doing it for Jayden was the one key thing to motivate us to keep going.”

The 33-year-old and his team reached Stella Point before continuing to Uhuru Peak - the highest point of the mountain which stands at 5,895metres.

Mike, from Beggarwood, who also has a daughter called Ella, suffered from altitude sickness and exhaustion after reaching the summit, adding: “There was nausea and physical exhaustion. The oxygen levels had dropped and the pressure gets to youbecause you are so high up, that’s the main cause of altitude sickness.”

He said the team of 20 they climbed with nicknamed the group Team Spider, in tribute to Jayden whose hero was Spider-Man.

Mike also took with him one of Jayden’s favourite Spider-Man cuddly toys, and said it resembled his son taking the journey with him.

Speaking of his family, he added: “I couldn’t have done it with anyone else. It’s amazing to have your family group there.”

He thanked all those who have so far contributed to Hope From Jayden, adding: “It’s humbling to see that and see the support coming in. It’s been a bit of a passion to raise as much awareness and funds as possible.”

Jill McDonagh, Naomi House and Jacksplace fundraiser for the Basingstoke area, said: “It was great to see the picture of Mike and his brothers at the top of Kilimanjaro, especially as I know how much it meant to him and his brothers to complete this challenge. It must have been very emotional for them all, and is a truly fantastic achievement.

“We are extremely grateful to Mike and his brothers for undertaking this climb on behalf of Naomi House and Jacksplace, and thank the many hundreds of people who continue to support the Hope From Jayden campaign.”

To donate visit justgiving.com/HopeFromJayden.