A Scottish man who sadly lost both his mum and brother to heart attacks just weeks apart from each other has battled his grief by conquering fitness challenges.
Jared Scott has spent the last year climbing mountains, running and wild swimming to help cope with his immense loss, the Daily Record reports.
The avid runner completed a daily 5km route throughout March, took part in the kilt walk in April, and even scaled Britain's top three highest mountains within 19 hours of each other in July.
Jared also went wild swimming every day in September, amongst his many other endurance challenges across the year.
Aberdeen-born Jared said: "It’s almost impossible to put into words the impact my mum and brother’s deaths have had on my family.
READ MORE - Edinburgh man arrested over death of local pensioner Douglas Forbes
“We’ve gone from being a family of five to a family of three in just a few months.
"At first it was too easy to let the grief take over.
"I spent a long time stuck in lockdown not sure what to do or how to express my sadness.
“Then one day I woke up and thought, ‘I want to do something to help stop any other family going through the same.’”
Jared's fitness journeys have helped raise thousands of pounds for the British Heart Foundation.
Jared has been supported well by his dad Richard and younger brother Toby, 22, and stated neither his mum or brother had suffered any warning signs of heart problems before their sudden deaths.
Jared, who is training for a marathon, added: “We’ve had a letter saying what happened is almost certainly not genetic, which is obviously a huge sigh of relief for us as a family.”
British Heart Foundation worker James Jopling said: "Jared’s efforts have been inspirational.
"He really hasn’t stopped this year, raising money and awareness.
"We cannot thank him enough.”
