A HUSBAND and wife have climbed Britain’s tallest mountains to raise cash for the hospital ward which looked after their daughter.

Hannah and Ian Thacker completed the Three Peaks Challenge in August, and have now handed over a cheque for £2,100 to the neonatal unit at Colchester General Hospital.

They scaled Scotland’s Ben Nevis (1344m), England’s Scafell Pike (978m) and Snowdon, in Wales (1085m).

Their daughter, Eleanor, was born six weeks premature, weighing 5lb and 1oz. However, within 24 hours her weight dropped to 4lb. She spent two weeks in the unit.

Mrs Thacker, 30, a swimming teacher in Stanway, said: “We received amazing care from the staff.

“We have always thought we would like to do something to say thank you, but we didn’t know what.”

They signed up for the challenge after a friend from LW Fitness gym told them about a group trip the club was organising.

Ian, who works at a power tool company, celebrated his 40th birthday this year.

Mrs Thacker said: “Ian and I had big birthdays this year, so wanted to do something to remember. We started training in February and both really struggled with the first training walk.”

The couple completed the challenge in 27 hours.

Mrs Thacker suffers from hypomobility syndrome, a genetic condition which makes her joints looser.

She said: “I suffer day-to-day with joint pains and have to take medication.

It is a massive challenge for everyone, but we did it. It was quite amazing.

“It was a really big thing for us.

We didn’t get much sleep on the minibus, so just being really tired was probably the hardest thing.”

Eleanor is now five and living a happy and healthy life.

Her mum said: “She’s at school and thriving. You wouldn’t know anything had ever happened.”