Ten-year-old quad amputee stunned after bringing in over £23,000 for charity

A ten-year-old quad amputee who hoped to raise £500 for disabled kids by climbing a mountain has been left stunned - after bringing in over £23,000 in donations.

Selfless Luke Mortimer described reaching the towering figure - which is more than 46 times higher than he’d expected - as both "mad" and "absolutely amazing".

The youngster was just seven when he sadly lost his arms and legs after getting the bacterial infections meningococcal meningitis and septicaemia.

Following his diagnosis, his family were supported by charities and donors who helped to adapt his home and even buy him a £15,000 bionic arm.

Luke later set his heart on “returning the favour” to organisations supporting disabled children - by doing a sponsored climb of Embsay Crag, in North Yorks.

But he's been left stunned with the money he’s now raised from generous punters after reaching the top of the 656ft peak on November 4 - dubbed his ‘Everest’.

Luke said: “There’s no other word to describe it other than mad - it’s just absolutely amazing.

“When it reached £10,000, I was checking it every day, and it was going up by £2,000 or £3,000 at a time.

“It’s just really fulfilling. I’m really happy we’ve been able to raise so much.”

Luke’s proud dad Adam Mortimer, 49, said he was equally “shocked” at the scale of the donations to the fundraiser, which currently stands at £23,082

And he revealed he’d already sent off the first batch of funds to the charities they decided to support - LimbPower and the BBC’s Children in Need.

He said: “It's definitely taken on a life of its own. I’m just amazed at how much support Luke has had and the way people have helped us.

“I’m really proud of him. We didn’t set out to make this a huge thing, but we do fundraise a lot for Luke. It was nice to do it for someone else.

“It took us a bit by surprise - and it restored a lot of faith in people. It’s not easy with the cost of living going up, so for people to donate so much is great.

“I transferred £13,000 to LimbPower this morning, and I’m hopefully going to transfer £13,000 to Children In Need tomorrow morning, but it’s still going higher every day.”

Luke, previously a keen rugby player for Skipton RFC in North Yorks., was first struck down with meningococcal meningitis on December 13, 2019.

And he was transferred to Sheffield Children’s Hospital, where doctors found life-threatening septicaemia, also known as blood poisoning, had developed in his body.

Writing at the time of the incident John Firth, a family friend who set up a donation page for him, said his rugby-mad family’s life had been “turned upside down”.

He said: “Luke was a budding 7-year-old rugby player, a bundle of joy who even at a young age had embraced life and every day was a happy day.