Perth Pensioner Bill hits the peaks

Aug 29 2008 by Alison Anderson, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

PERTH pensioner Bill Jackson is preparing to scale Britain’s highest peak for charity – just five months after undergoing a triple heart by-pass operation.

Bill refused to let his health problems keep him off his beloved hills and mountains. And in his fight back to fitness after the major surgery in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary in May, he has already completed three Munros in preparation for the Big One on September 27, a week before his 70th birthday.

That day, Bill and granddaughter Amanda Lambie will set out on their climb of Ben Nevis, with the aim of bagging a mountain of sponsorship for the British Heart Foundation.

“I’ve always been a keen walker,” explainedBill, of Perth’s Glenalmond Terrace. “But I was a late starter for Munro-bagging, although I’ve done more than 60 Munros since about 1984.

“We’re doing it in aid of the British Heart Foundation by way of my thanks to them for seeing me through two heart procedures in five years.”

Anyone who would like to sponsor Bill can telephone him at home on 01738-639693, e-mail to: bill_jackson@blueyonder.co.uk or go onto his web page: www.justgiving.com/billjackson