A man who took on a gruelling challenge in memory of his girlfriend said it was the hardest thing he has ever done.

Luke Weaver tackled the 2012 Tough Guy Challenge in memory of Jo Lambe, who died aged 26 last March.

The eight-mile course is famously tough and this year a third of the competitors succumbed to hypothermia in sub-zero temperatures.

Mr Weaver, aged 27, said: “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my whole life mentally and physically.

“There were a couple of times when I had to call on Jo and say, ‘Come on Jo, I need a bit of a boost here.

“It was because I was doing it for her that helped me get through.”

Mr Weaver, a trainee chartered surveyor, completed the course in two hours and 52 minutes and hopes his efforts will raise at least £4,000 for a new medical assessment bay for Laurel 3 at Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

Miss Lambe, of Hadley Heath, near Ombersley, spent three weeks on the ward and then five weeks in intensive care before she died of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

The Tough Guy course at South Perton, Wolverhampton, tests competitors with water-logged tunnels, electric shocks, crawls through mud under barbed wire, a plunge into an icy lake and a 40ft cargo net climb.

Mr Weaver said: “It took me about five hours to get warm afterwards. I saw some people get carried off the course.

“There were people shivering and in tears.”

However, Mr Weaver, of Washington Street, Arboretum, Worcester, said he never considered giving up.

He said: “I said to myself before I did it, ‘even if I break my leg and I have to drag it through the finish line there is no way I will give in because I’m doing it for Jo.’ Nothing would have stopped me.”

Rob Rideout, of Hallwood Green, Ledbury, also completed the course, raising more than £800 to be split between the Fund For Heroes and Help for Heroes, both of which help wounded service personnel.

He said: “The event was certainly not a fun run.

“The initial six-mile cross-country run which slalomed 10 times up and down the hills, and as many times through eight-foot deep ditches, was a breeze in comparison to the assault course.”

The competition was on Sunday, January 29.