Perth friends to take Lily's teddy bear to the top of Ben Nevis

A Perth man will trek to the top of UK’s highest peak to fulfil a promise he made to inspirational teen Lily Douglas – to take one of her teddies to the summit of Ben Nevis.

Lorry driver Craig Donald (48) told Lily he’d make the special delivery when she was first diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma in 2017.

He also promised to take along a troll for two-year-old local girl Leva Stewart who battled cancer.

But issues with his feet meant he didn’t get to do the 1345m climb in 2017 and the teddy stayed at the ex-soldier’s home in Muirton, Perth.

Tragically Lily, who lived nearby Craig, died in January, aged 14, from the bone cancer that had developed when she was only nine.

Craig Donald drives a long distance lorry but loves to climb Scotland's mountains when he gets out of the cab (unknown)

Lily’s mum Jane shared a picture of Craig with her daughter and the teddy when it came up on Facebook as a memory from exactly five years ago.

The nudge made Craig scramble to belatedly see through the plan to take the toy to the top in Lily’s honour. He and a group of friends from Perth are going to bag Ben Nevis on August 6.

The teddy has been kept at Craig's house since his first failed bid to walk it to the top. Now he plans to put that right for his pal Lily (unknown)

“I was tagged last week with this photo and my brain went into overdrive,” said Craig.

“It was five years ago on that very day I made a promise to Lily that I’d make sure her bear would be at the top of the highest point in Britain.

“The first mission never went to plan, my feet failed and I had to return to base.”

Now Lily’s bear is heading out with Craig on Saturday, August 6, meeting at 10am at the mountain’s foot in Fort William. In a rallying cry to friends on social media, Craig wrote: “Let’s bag the biggest Munro in Britain in memory of Perth ’s Wee Angel, Miss Lily Douglas. #letsgetteddyandtrolltothetop #lilydouglas”

The challenging climb usually takes around four hours to reach the summit, and a further two or three hours to descend.

This second attempt for Craig to go up Ben Nevis has his son Jayden joining him.

Kickboxing champ Jayden (14) has been weekend walking up hills with his dad since they went up Ben Chonzie when he was only four.

“Ben Nevis is an unbelievably fascinating mountain. It’s on my bucket list and I can’t wait to place Lily’s bear up there,” Craig added.

Visit https://gofund.me/4a36c4de and money will go to Lily’s fund.