A DAREDEVIL dad is climb ing an active volcano to raise money for a charity which helps people with the same debilitating condition suffered by his late mum.

Jonathan Small, of Upper Street, Defford, near Pershore, lost his mum Pat Small 16 years ago when scleroderma caused her kidneys to fail.

He was unable to complete a fund-raising enterprise because of his own health problems but this month he plans to make up for it.

To raise funds for the Raynaud’s & Scleroderma Association, Mr Small volunteered to do a charity trek with a team of husky dogs across Lapland which featured in a Worcester News article in February last year to mark the 15th anniversary of his mum’s death.

He said: “Just two weeks before the trek, I required surgery on an infected abscess which prevented me from going on the trek, and then the whole trek was cancelled due to the volcanic ash cloud.”

To keep fit for his replacement trek he entered the Birmingham Half-marathon, 23 years since he last ran that distance to raise funds for Defford under-fives and Defford School.

But he developed a nerve injury during training and struggled through the race last October on strong painkillers and with a heat-pack strapped to his leg.

Yesterday Mr Small began ice-climbing one of the highest active volcanoes in the world – Cotopaxi in Ecuador – which is nearly 20,000 feet high, more than two-thirds the height of Everest. He is due to finish on September 25.

Before setting off, he said: “My injury curse reared its head in March with torn knee cartilage requiring surgery. This was carried out in May, so I have been training hard to get back in shape for the most difficult of all my challenges.

“Indeed, an expedition leader has told me that it is the most difficult of all the charity treks out there.

“To top it all, my old faithful hiking boots fell apart in August while training in the Brecon Beacons.

“So if it’s not my body saying, No, don’t do it’, then my equipment seems to take over the call.”

He is close to achieving his target of raising £4,000 for the charity. Donations can be made online at justgiving.com/ FootmanJ or sent to Heatherton, Upper Street, Defford, WR8 9BG.