Corby boy, 10, set for Arctic trek in tribute to father

A 10-year-old boy once told he might never walk can look forward to days of "wonder" as he prepares to trek in the Arctic in memory of his late father.

Caeden, who has cerebral palsy, was born 12 weeks early.

But Caeden, of Corby, Northamptonshire, has climbed Ben Nevis and is now set to meet the Arctic challenge.

Mountain guide John Cousins said the "biggest danger in such conditions comes from the cold".

Caeden is due to travel to Sweden on Monday with mother Lisa, brother Ashton, 12, and sister Khya, 14.

The family plans to fly to Stockholm, then travel to Jokkmokk, which is in Swedish Lapland and a few miles north of the Arctic Circle.

But he climbed Ben Nevis in 2020, alongside his mother, father, Alan, and brother and sister, to raise money charity Scope.

His father died from bowel cancer in February 2022, aged 40.

Caeden is now set to trek in the Arctic to raise money for the Cynthia Spencer Hospice, where his father was cared for, and the NHS.

The family hopes to raise £10,000 and will take Alan's ashes with them in an urn.

Lisa, 38. said she had planned the trip with her husband.

"Just because you have a disability doesn't stop you from doing anything you want to put your mind to," Lisa told the BBC.

"We are going ahead to do what Alan wanted to do."

She added: ""He's got quite high muscle tone so being cold and having to walk around in snow is going to be quite intense."

Mr Cousins, 64, who who with the British Association of Mountain Guides and is chief executive of Mountain Training UK and Ireland, said such a trek would be a big challenge for an adult.

"The biggest danger in such conditions comes from the cold - frostbite and so on," said Mr Cousins who lives in Llanberis in the Snowdonia National Park and has trekked in Alaska.

But Mr Cousins, a mountain guide for 35 years, added: "He's obviously very motivated and I would hope there will be joy and wonder for him.

"It's a wonderous landscape and I very much hope he has a wonderful experience."

Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and X. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected]