SEVEN months after suffering a near fatal heart attack, Kevin Holroyd led his work colleagues on the Three Peaks Challenge, raising more than £2,300 for The British Heart Foundation.

The dad-of-four, who lives in Little Lever, was rushed to the Royal Bolton Hospital in January last year after feeling numbness and heaviness in his body, and found out he had a blood clot in his artery.

After a life saving operation at Wythenshawe hospital, Mr Holroyd, aged 52, was determined to get back to his best so began to build up his fitness by taking his dog for walks each day and going to the gym.

Once he felt fit enough, Mr Holroyd and colleague Jamie Gledhill, who work at George Cox and Sons, organised a 12-strong party from the Farnworth-based Highway Contractors to undertake the Three Peaks challenge, to climb Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon in just 24 hours.

After the event, which they completed on August 24 last year, representatives from the team handed the cheque to Barbara Dunn at BHF.

Mr Holroyd said: “It was an amazing experience and I am pleased to have helped raise money for such a good cause. It was hard going but to be honest the drives between climbs were the worst.”

Mr Holroyd, a site supervisor, decided to take up the Three Peaks Challenge following a heart attack early last year.

He said: “After the heart attack I felt as weak as a child most days, but I was determined to build up my strength.

“It all started late November in 2012 when I started feeling numbness in my body and felt achy like someone was sat on my shoulders. I just thought it was indigestion.

“Then on January 23 last year I had the same feeling but still got up for work. I was driving on the motorway and thought I was going to faint. I managed to pull over and get myself to work before passing out.

“It wasn’t until later I rang the emergency doctor who told me it sounded like I was having a heart attack. I got to Royal Bolton and they whisked me to Wythenshawe where I had to have an operation to stop the blood clot. I could have died if I hadn’t had it done.”

Barbara Dunn, fundraising manager at BHF across Lancashire, said: “I would like to say a big thank you for the effort and time that the team put into the event and raising the money.

“Without this kind of support we would not be able to do as much work as we do saving people’s lives.”