Blind trio triumph'¨over 3,000ft peak

Nicky Askew, Michelle Tomlinson and Lisa Daley scaled Skiddaw in the Lake District on Sunday with the help of hikers from Blackpool Transport, Reliant Direct, and Booths in Poulton.

Nicky, 47, said: “I really struggled going up but the guys that helped us were amazing. We didn’t have our dogs at the time because we had human guides. It restores your faith in human nature. My legs were so strained coming down I still can’t believe we made it.”

The three women scaled the 3,054ft mountain to raise money for the Guide Dogs charity.

The challenge came one year after the trio, who are all guide dog owners, took part in a triathlon to raise £5,000 for a new guide dog, named Spirit, to be trained and handed over to a partially-sighted person living in Britain.

Mum-of-two Nicky, who lives in Anchorsholme, said: “We don’t know how much we raised yet until all the sponsor money comes in, but we’re hoping it will be a good amount.

“For us to walk up a mountain when you can’t see wasn’t scary, it was just hard, but coming down was so frightening, it was a massive challenge for the three of us.

“When you get to the bottom and you finally do it, it’s a massive boost to your confidence. If it wasn’t for our guardian angels we would never have done it. It’s important to raise money because we all use a guide dog, and we want to help other people get guide dogs and have the same quality of life and independence we have.

“We have become great friends through the Guide Dogs. Nobody talks to you with a cane. With a guide dog you make lots of friends.

“We’re going to keep pushing ourselves until we can’t do any more.”