A dad from York is set to climb Mount Kilimanjaro for his son with muscular dystrophy.

Paul McGann, 52, set off for Africa on Saturday (October 12) to climb Kilimanjaro - the world's highest freestanding mountains. He will be joined by his friend Dan Cooper, from Newark.

Inspired by Paul’s son, Frankie, 15, who lives with myotonic dystrophy, Paul and Dan have raised £11,615 to date for Muscular Dystrophy UK.

Explaining the motivation behind the challenge, Paul said: "My son Frankie is 15 now, but was diagnosed with myotonic dystrophy when he was just seven months old.

"We knew he wasn’t reaching development milestones as normal, but no one had any idea why.

"At the time my wife was pregnant with our second child, so it was quite a shock to find out about this rare genetic condition in the family.

"I’m doing this trek to help raise awareness and money for Muscular Dystrophy UK so that they can continue funding ground breaking research to understand more about muscle wasting conditions and find new treatments."

Following Frankie’s diagnosis, Paul’s wife, her sister and her father were also diagnosed as having a variant of myotonic dystrophy, albeit less severe.

"The diagnosis has had a huge impact on all our lives," he added.

"But has also helped explain some of the lifelong muscle weakness and tiredness they all feel."

Joining Paul on the trek is his friend, Dan Cooper who he has known for 30 years.

In 2022, they took on Pedal Paddle Peak - a 34km cycle, 3km kayak, and summiting Helvellyn in the Lake District to raise money for Muscular Dystrophy UK.

"Dan is a great family friend and a big champion of Frankie," said Paul.

"Our birthdays are close, so we often celebrate them together.

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"In fact, this year Dan’s birthday will be on the way up Kilimanjaro and mine will be celebrated when we get back down to the bottom."

As part of their training, Paul and Dan climbed Snowdon last month, but as Kilimanjaro is five times higher, they know this challenge is on another level.

Paul added: "Frankie is an inspiration to all who know him.

"He’s never daunted by a big physical challenge and continues to defy expectations of what is possible.

"One of my proudest moments was supporting Frankie last year to climb the Old Man of Coniston in the Lake District as part of my training.

"At 803 metres high, it’s a significant peak and getting up involved a lot of effort but was a huge achievement for him.

"In general, Frankie leads a full and happy life and never wants to be treated any differently to his younger brother, so we regularly embark on family adventures like indoor climbing and long bike rides.

"Regular physiotherapy and splints help to keep Frankie mobile, but he has very weak muscles that even make smiling almost impossible.

"As he gets older, we know that his muscle weakness will have an even greater impact on daily life, from mobility to eating, but he remains determined to be involved in whatever capacity he can.

"Dan and I are doing this trek for him. Pushing ourselves to the limit so that we can increase awareness of conditions like Frankie’s and raise money so that Muscular Dystrophy UK can continue to fund research and support people living with muscle wasting conditions."

Paul and Dan’s Kilimanjaro climb can be donated to via the link here: www.justgiving.com/team/kilicrazycats.