A CARING son scaled new heights to coin in thousands of pounds in memory of a much-loved Royston mum.
Darryl Naismith and a group of friends climbed seven Munros on Saturday to honour his mother Laura, who passed away at the age of 38.
Laura, who took her own life, is much-missed by the 26-year-old and the one time St Roch’s FC player also ran between every football stadium in Glasgow last month as part of his bid to remember her in a meaningful way.
READ MORE: Former St Roch's player Darryl Naismith takes on charity challenge in memory of mum
And thanks to his efforts nearly £4000 has been raised for the Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH) with family, friends, and kind-hearted strangers all getting behind the factory worker.
“I don’t really know how to put it into words but I am overwhelmed by it all and the support,” the Royston man said.
“I guess I would just say to anyone who ever thinks about doing something to just do it.”
Darryl, who got a tattoo in memory of his mum earlier this year, knew he had hit upon the perfect idea to remember Laura when he was introduced to mental health charity SAMH.
And he certainly put his best foot forward during the two challenges, with the run between Hampden Park, Ibrox Stadium, Firhill, and finally Celtic Park, clocking up 11 miles and nearly 6000ft scaled on the Munros of the South Glen Shiel Ridge.
“We actually did seven of them and we were beginning to make our way down when it became really foggy,” Darryl, who spent nearly fives years at James McGrory Park, added. “It actually got quite scary. We ended up on another path and actually did an eighth Munro! We could hardly see during the descent.
“It actually took us around 11 hours in the end. Most of us finished the whole thing whereas five of us stopped at the end of the fourth Munro.
“The running between the stadiums wasn’t as bad as I was expecting it to be and some of us even cycled.”
Chloe Watson, community and events fundraiser at SAMH, said: “All of us at SAMH would like to say a heartfelt thank you to Darryl’s for raising vital funds for Scotland’s mental health in memory of his Mum. It was an amazing feat, running to every football ground in Glasgow - not to mention scaling seven Munros.
“We will put this generous contribution to good work right away, and be there for people when they need us.”
To support Darryl’s fundraiser, visit here.
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