A ten-year-old quad amputee who hoped to raise £500 for disabled kids by climbing a mountain has been left stunned - after bringing in over £23,000 in donations.<br /><br />Selfless Luke Mortimer described reaching the towering figure - which is more than 46 times higher than he’d expected - as both "mad" and "absolutely amazing".<br /><br />The youngster was just seven when he sadly lost his arms and legs after getting the bacterial infections meningococcal meningitis and septicaemia.<br /><br />Following his diagnosis, his family were supported by charities and donors who helped to adapt his home and even buy him a £15,000 bionic arm.<br /><br />Luke later set his heart on “returning the favour” to organisations supporting disabled children - by doing a sponsored climb of Embsay Crag, in North Yorks.<br /><br />But he's been left stunned with the money he’s now raised from generous punters after reaching the top of the 656ft peak on November 4 - dubbed his ‘Everest’. <br /><br />Luke said: “There’s no other word to describe it other than mad - it’s just absolutely amazing.<br /><br />“When it reached £10,000, I was checking it every day, and it was going up by £2,000 or £3,000 at a time. <br /><br />“It’s just really fulfilling. I’m really happy we’ve been able to raise so much.”<br /><br />Luke’s proud dad Adam Mortimer, 49, said he was equally “shocked” at the scale of the donations to the fundraiser, which currently stands at £23,082<br /><br />And he revealed he’d already sent off the first batch of funds to the charities they decided to support - LimbPower and the BBC’s Children in Need.<br /><br />He said: “It's definitely taken on a life of its own. I’m just amazed at how much support Luke has had and the way people have helped us.<br /><br />“I’m really proud of him. We didn’t set out to make this a huge thing, but we do fundraise a lot for Luke. It was nice to do it for someone else.<br /><br />“It took us a bit by surprise - and it restored a lot of faith in people. It’s not easy with the cost of living going up, so for people to donate so much is great.<br /><br />“I transferred £13,000 to LimbPower this morning, and I’m hopefully going to transfer £13,000 to Children In Need tomorrow morning, but it’s still going higher every day.”<br /><br />Luke, previously a keen rugby player for Skipton RFC in North Yorks., was first struck down with meningococcal meningitis on December 13, 2019.<br /><br />And he was transferred to Sheffield Children’s Hospital, where doctors found life-threatening septicaemia, also known as blood poisoning, had developed in his body.<br /><br />Writing at the time of the incident John Firth, a family friend who set up a donation page for him, said his rugby-mad family’s life had been “turned upside down”.<br /><br />He said: “Luke was a budding 7-year-old rugby player, a bundle of joy who even at a young age had embraced life and every day was a happy day.
