A HEROIC father from Slimbridge climbed the height of the world’s tallest mountain and raised £21,000 for a life-changing operation for his three-year-old daughter with cerebral palsy.

James Bottger, 37, walked up and down Robinswood Hill, in Gloucester, 75 times, the equivalent distance one would tackle if climbing Mount Everest.

The money he raised means the Bottger family now have the £60,000 they require to travel to America with their daughter for surgery and physiotherapy that may allow her to walk, something she is unable to do due to her condition.

Mr Bottger lives in St John's Road, Slimbridge, with his wife Kate and two daughters Charlotte and four-month old Harriet.

Charlotte was born 10 weeks premature and, as a result of the brain-damage she incurred, was diagnosed as having quadriplegic cerebral palsy at 18 months of age.

Increased spasticity - stiffness in the muscles of the arms legs and backs - has rendered Charlotte incapable of walking, as well as causing a significant amount of pain and a general reduction of motor functions.

St LouisChildrens Hospital in Missouri, America, has been performing a specialist surgery and subsequent course of physiotherapy for the past 20 years with a good record of success.

The Bottgers hope treatment there will give Charlotte the ability to walk, but predominantly that it will reduce the amount of pain she experiences on a day-to-day basis.

The idea for the Everest challenge first came about following a discussion between Mr Bottger and the Superhero Foundation – a charity that helps normal people do incredible things to raise money for a charity of their choice.

The Bottgers had already spent more than a year fundraising for Charlotte.

The idea the Superhero Foundation suggested was to walk up and down Robinswood Hill 75 times, which, at 90 miles, replicates the distance one would travel climbing up and down Mount Everest from sea level.

Within a short space of time and with very little training, Mr Bottger was given a date, and turned out to the bottom of Robinswood Hill on Saturday, December 20.

The first day was a breeze when placed alongside the other days of the challenge. It was Sunday when the physical and emotional test he had taken on really began to become apparent.

He said: “I was trudging up and down the hill and burning a lot of calories. My stomach had become very acidic so I didn’t have much of an appetite.

“It became really emotional. It got to the stage where I’d just think about something and burst into tears. You’re pushing your body way beyond where it wants to be and you’re running on almost empty.

“The thing that got me through was family, knowing that I was the one that had to do it. I wasn’t just doing it for Charlotte, I was doing it for all of them.”

Mr Bottger describes the pain he went through as excruciating, not helped by the fact he was only able to sleep for an hour and a half for the duration of the walk.

He said: “There were a lot of times when I thought I couldn’t do it, that it was just physically impossible.”

But eventually, after 60 hours of walking, and a build-up of energy thanks to the anticipation of finishing, Mr Bottger marched to the end of the challenge on Monday, December 22.

He said: “The last lap was just mental. I have never felt that happy. The only way to describe it is euphoria – just the best feeling in the world.

“That euphoric high is just amazing. It makes you think you just want to do it again."

With the pot for Charlotte reaching its target, the Bottgers are now arranging their trip to the States for the treatment.