Nick Gardner turned to nature as a way to deal with his grief.
According to the 81 year-old, he knew that he needed to find a way for his mental health to be protected after his life with his wife of more than 30 years suddenly ended.Â
He decided to set a goal that would scare others half his age.Â
“My wife got Alzheimer’s four years ago,” Gardner explained. “And when I couldn’t look after her two years later, I had to get a challenge to refocus my life, and it had to be a challenge that would last some time.
“The challenge was to climb all of the Scottish mountains which were more than 3,000 feet high.” he continued. “They are called Munros and there is a long list.”
He’s already climbed 177 of the 282 Munros, and he’s also asking people to support him by donating money to charities that helped his wife with her osteoporosis and Alzheimer’s disease.
So far, Gardner has already raised 30,000 pounds. And his goal is to keep climbing and keep raising more.
“Mountains are special.” Gardner said. “It’s not clear what it is exactly. It is some unidentified thing.”
