A 17-year-old boy will hike 140 miles throughout Scotland and bag 40 Munros in a robust pursuit to lift consciousness for psychological well being.
Ronan Ratcliffe, from Leith, Edinburgh, is planning to hold out the cross-country problem in simply eight days.
The jaunt will see the teenager trek via moorland from Fortwilliam within the Highlands to Glendoll Forest, North of Dundee.
Leaving on Monday, Could 30, Ronan will comply with a distant path that crosses solely two public roads the entire time.
In the course of the problem, the Trinity Academy pupil is coining in money for Samaritans - a psychological well being charity that's near his coronary heart.
Ronan watched his personal father, Nigel, endure from despair and nervousness since he was a toddler.
Whereas he says extra must be carried out to sort out the stigma round males's psychological well being, he's eager to assist others who're in an analogous scenario.
Ronan informed the Document: "His battles actually took a toll on him and our household, it took away the father-son bond from us.
"I've by no means stayed with him and I do not get to see him an terrible lot, it has all the time been the case.
"It has affected not solely him however me and my entire household, too.
"After I was youthful and in major faculty, I did not actually perceive absolutely what was happening with dad.
"It wasn't till highschool after I began to grasp. It was troublesome to return to phrases with as a result of a lot of father's life had already been taken away by his struggles - he'd missed out on a lot of my childhood."
The teenager hopes that his hike will encourage individuals to take precedence for his or her psychological well being and has urged Scots to be proactive if you really feel such as you need assistance.
He added: "It has been actually troublesome for me and I actually wish to unfold consciousness about psychological well being and urge individuals to prioritise it - particularly males.
"With guys, we are sometimes informed to man up and so we bottle issues and preserve issues to ourselves.
"Though that stigma is being damaged, we nonetheless wrestle to talk up about what's going on in our heads and so we attempt to cope with issues ourselves.
"I actually need people who find themselves studying this to talk about your issues as a substitute of retaining them to your self."
"I can do that problem with quite a lot of psychological fortune to push me on, however not all people has that. Will probably be good for me bodily, however it is going to additionally preserve my thoughts in test, too."
Throughout his pursuit, the teenager will wild camp for the primary half of the journey and sleep in Bothies - an unlocked shelter for use freed from cost in mountainous areas - for the second half.
Ronan has devoted his trek in reminiscence of his father's girlfriend, Nikki, who sadly died by suicide in March 2021.
The teenager described her loss of life as "devastating" for his household.
"This was devastating for me to listen to, however particularly for my Dad", he mentioned.
"With such horrible information, after which the second lockdown, he confronted an enormous setback and has been struggling over the previous 12 months.
"So, I hope I can unfold round a message and assist people who find themselves going via related conditions by studying this.
"For anybody who is considering taking their very own life, or for anybody who feels caught at a psychological blockage, go and converse to a good friend, a member of the family, a stranger on the road – anyone. It’s so simple as that.
"The identical goes for anybody who isn’t in want of assist, ask the individuals you're keen on how they're, be certain they’re genuinely okay and preserve them shut."
Donate to Ronan's fundraiser by visiting right here.
You'll be able to search assist by contacting Samaritans 24/7 free on 116 123 or by visiting Samaritans.org.
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