'The NHS saved me,' says teen who's played the bagpipes on 282 Munros
Click here to visit the Scotland home page for the latest news and sport As Joel Davey stood atop Ben Lomond and took in the view over the loch in the driving rain and wind, it marked the end of a record-breaking challenge to scale all 282 Munros in a year – and play the bagpipes at the peak of each one. The astonishing feat was the 18-year-old’s way to give back to the British Heart Foundation (BHF), by raising money for the charity that saved his life after he had open heart surgery as a baby for a rare disorder. The operation allowed him to enjoy a rough-and-tumble childhood, including playing rugby, cross-country running and, of course, climbing hills. By the age of 11 he had already scaled Monte Cinto, the highest mountain in Corsica, where he played Highland Cathedral on his bagpipes. After taking stock of just how much the surgery had given him in life, he decided to repeat the feat on each Munro – Scottish mountains over 3,000ft – in one year a...