A six-year-old girl has climbed the highest mountain in North Africa to raise money for the hospital that saved her life when she was a baby.
Seren Price from Llangennech, Carmarthenshire, has become the youngest girl to ever climb Mount Toubkal in the Atlas Mountains in Morocco, according to her father Glyn.
The duo then plan to climb Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in Western Europe, as part of a bid to raise money for Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
“When I was a baby, I had a big lump on my neck and they helped me,” Seren said.
Seren and Glyn flew to Morocco in mid-August, traveling from Marrakech to a village at the foot of the Atlas Mountains.
Glyn said they and their guide had hiked for eight hours in temperatures of over 40 degrees to the base camp of Mount Toubkal, where they spent the night before setting off early the next morning.
The next day they reached the summit, which Glyn described as “a tough trek with narrow paths over slippery, steep scree slopes”.
“The heat was the biggest challenge… but once we got to the top it was fantastic. There were about 20 people who had been following her story on social media and they gave her a big round of applause,” he said.
When asked how long she had been training for the hike, Seren replied, “A week.” Glyn laughed and said, “I think it was a little over a week.”
He said they had been training for about a year, including night walks in Pen y Fan in the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park, also known as the Brecon Beacons.
“We were able to recreate part of the track. The weather wasn’t the same, of course, but the terrain was,” he said.
Seren is raising money for Birmingham Children’s Hospital, which her father credits with saving her life when she was young. She underwent surgery when she was born prematurely and had a haemangioma in her neck that was affecting her radio frequencies.
In 2022, Seren became the youngest person to complete the UK’s Three Peaks Challenge in under 48 hours. Next year, she plans to climb Mont Blanc with her father.
Glyn said it would mean some winter training, including in Scotland.
Seren said she was looking forward to climbing Mont Blanc, especially because she “saw the snow”.
Glyn, a teacher, is a keen mountain climber but says you can’t ‘force’ children’s passions.
“I have a little boy and I’ve tried to take him to the mountains, but he’s not interested. Seren loves it,” he said.
When asked what she enjoys most about climbing, Seren replied, “I like spending time with my dad and seeing the beautiful sights when I’m up on the mountain.”
