JOY turned to fear as two climbers were about to conquer Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa.

Runcorn dad-of-two David Ash, 51, and his nephew, Chris Riley, 34, were just two days from the summit when they received an emergency call on a satellite phone from their family.

“My mum and Chris’ grandmother Betty Dutton suffered a serious head injury. She was desperately ill and unconscious.

“We had never wanted to be home more than we did that night.

“We could clearly see the summit as we turned back. We were 75 per cent up. It was a dream and a nightmare.

“That six hours as we descended 13,000 feet was indescribable not knowing if my mum was alive.”

They arrived back in Runcorn the following afternoon and fortunately Mrs Dutton is now recovering in hospital.

“She is much better now,” said David, from Sandymoor.

The climbing duo, who call themselves Team One Step, have raised more than £22,300 for Cancer Research UK.

The pair have already booked to return to Nepal and complete the climb next September.

“We owe a massive thanks to everyone who has supported us,” said David. “It is their hopes and dreams we took up the mountain.

“For the three days we were there it was truly magical.

“We moved through lush rainforest to alpine desert. We saw the blackest of skies lit by infinite stars.

“We saw monkeys and giraffe in the wild.

“There were downsides, the cold, headaches and nausea from altitude but these were massively outweighed by other things.

“We made new lifelong friendships and discovered lots about Tanzanian culture.”

The pair have vowed to continue supporting cancer research and plan to launch Runcorn One Step CRUK Fundraising Group.

Anyone interested in joining can e-mail team1step@btinternet.com. An inaugural meeting will be held in the next month.