Nick Gardener is 81 and moved to a removed corner of the Scottish Highlands with his wife Janet when he was 50. He’s an avid outdoorsman and lately set himself a challenge to complete all 282 Munros – a Scottish mountain that sits 3000ft (914 m) higher than sea level – after his wife was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2018 and he needed something to take his mind off it.
Big Challenges Ahead
Two years after her diagnosis, Janet, a former teacher also suffers from osteoporosis now needs 24-hour care. Obviously devastated, Mr Gardner needed a coping mechanism and took to the hills. After spending all their time together for the past 30 years, it was a shock to the system for Nick when he could no longer care for her.
“When it got too much for me to handle, when she went into hospital and care … I just didn’t know what to do. We’ve been used to each other’s company all 24/7 for 30 years. And then suddenly it’s gone,” he said.
Tackling Munros has enabled Nick to refocus his thoughts and the task he set himself would challenge many people even half his age. Not only has he set himself such a tough challenge but he’s also raising money for the charities Alzheimer Scotland and the Royal Osteoporosis Society.
Raising Awareness and Money
Mr Gardener has had to learn on the go when it comes to social media as he records his progress on Facebook and Instagram. So far, his progress has raised more than £30,000 out of his £40,000 target, most of which has been raised from walkers he’s met on the mountains.
He said: “Obviously, I thought, I’ve got something here. I really have. And I didn’t realise the potential. And so ever since then, when I see people on the hill, I stop them and have a little conversation with them, tell them what I’m doing.”
Mr Gardner dons his hat, gloves and boots come rain or shine to take in (sometimes) the breath-taking views Scotland’s rugged landscape has to offer. He says, “I’d much sooner be here than in a centrally heated house.”
