A FIREFIGHTER who has battled back from being told he would never walk again has cycled the equivalent of climbing Everest.

Gareth Bridgewater, from Pontypool, climbed the Tumble an incredible 24 times as he covered more than 9,000m of vertical ascent and a total distance of around 228km.

Starting at 3am on Sunday morning it took him more than 19 hours to complete the gruelling challenge.

“When we were up at the top of the summit at the start you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face,” he said.

“It was wet and windy and wasn’t looking too promising.

“We thought we might have to abandon it, but after people started turning up to support it brightened up and in the end it was a really good day.”

His first climb of the Tumble took around 25 minutes, but as the day progressed his times drifted to around 37 minutes.

'Everesting the Tumble' was the eighth in a bucket list of 11 challenges Mr Bridgewater has set himself.

By the end of his challenges he will have completed 750miles with 60,000ft of vertical climbing during seven mixed trials on a road bike, mountain bike and off-road running.

He has been completing the challenge in memory of his dad after he died of lung cancer.

He had hoped to carry out the challenge in 2010, but after he suffered a devastating injury on duty as a firefighter he had to delay his mammoth charity challenge.

When he was hit by a rolling truck he broke his femur and tore ligaments in his shoulder, but after several operations and months of physiotherapy he has now returned to work.

As part of his charity challenge he has already run a marathon, a 45mile ultra marathon, the Monster Sportive in mid-Wales, a massive 4200m track climbing over 190km, the Bristol Bike Fest and the Wales Coast to Coast challenge.

He has now got two marathons to wear in full firefighter kit, which are being held at Tesco and Asda, and Bristol’s Oktoberfest cycling event in October.

He set himself the target of raising £5,000 in aid of the Velindre Cancer Centre, but has already hit £5,085 with time to spare.

To read more about the challenge visit his website http://endurance7.com/ or to sponsor him visit www.justgiving.com/gareth-bridgewater1