Boxing great Frank Bruno fought torrential rain to trek up Ben Nevis yesterday just weeks after battling a bout of pneumonia.
And he described the mountain as “evil” after a tortuous eight hour hike up and down the peak.
Bruno, 57, feared he would die after falling ill in March.
But he was back to his best as he joined almost 40 other walkers to tackle the Scottish mountain and raise £22,000 for the Frank Bruno Foundation, which supports people suffering with mental ill-health.
After finishing the gruelling climb last night (Sunday) Frank said he was looking forward to a bath and a pint of Guinness.
The legendary fighter said: “It was nasty, going up was evil. It was just up, up, up ,up up. Even coming down was ruthless. It is not very nice at all but it is for a very good cause.
“I’m looking forward to a bath and a massage. I don’t want to sit down for too long because I won’t be able to stand up again” he laughed.
He later tweeted a photo of himself in a foam filled tub, saying: “8 hours of climbing I’m not even going to lie, weather was brutal, extremely cold but every1 gave it their all.
“Our journey may have been physically and mentally hard for the 8 hours but this is a small part of what mental health sufferers feel daily. Im now going 2 have a cuppa”.
Frank was congratulated on his effort by ex England football captain Wayne Rooney, who tweeted: “Brilliant @frankbrunoboxer. Well done everyone”.
Despite his aches and pains, he is now considering conquering more UK mountains, as part of a three peaks challenge for the Foundation.
The retired boxer fell ill and was taken to hospital in March after a meet-and-greet with hundreds of fans.
He said: “It was awful – and for a few moments I was fearing the worst. I couldn’t catch my breath and the more I tried, the more pain I was in. I was not sure if it was my heart or I had broken a rib.”
He was diagnosed with the infection in both lungs and said: “I can only thank God I was taken there so quickly. If I hadn’t it could have been a whole lot worse.”
