SCALING Britain’s highest mountain is no mean feat, but it is one that Summerseat mum Sara Lindsay-Murray decided to throw herself into last weekend.

It marked a major step forward for the 49-year-old, who is in recovery after battling post-traumatic stress disorder since losing her mum in 2008.

Many of her friends had no idea what she was going through at the time, but after turning a corner and deciding to climb Ben Nevis to raise money for a mental health charity, she is now ready to talk about her experience.

“It was all very sudden,” she said. “My mum was not ill, and I got a phone call from my sister saying she had died in her sleep. I was shocked.

“That is when it started. At first, I thought I had sleep apnoea, but the doctor said I was having nocturnal panic attacks.

“It was a horrible experience. It was like I was reliving what happened every single night. I would wake up wondering if it was real or a nightmare.”

She was initially diagnosed with anxiety, and in a bid to distract herself, Sara began running between five to seven miles every morning.

But her mental health problems persisted and reached the point where last Christmas she did not want to go to work. It was at that point she sought help. And in January of this year, she visited a psychologist, who diagnosed her with PTSD.

She has since undergone EMDR ­— short for eye movement desensitization and reprocessing ­— and has noticed huge improvements in her mental health.

“It is amazing,” she said. “I feel more energetic and back to my normal self. I have decided to challenge myself with all the things I have wanted to do, but have not been able to.”

To assist her with climbing Ben Nevis on Saturday ­— a challenge she says she has wanted to take on for years ­— she enlisted the help of a group called Star Trekkers.

And with no training, she braved gale force winds and sub-zero temperatures to complete the challenge in less than five hours. She describes it as an ‘amazing experience’.

“It was mentally and physical challenging,” she added. “I still cannot believe it. The whole thing was about putting myself out there and feeling the fear and just going ahead anyway.

“This is such a massive achievement for me. I feel like I can conquer anything now.”

Sara, who currently works as a make-up artist, encountered several challenges along the way.

She explained: “To start with, it was all beautiful views and it was quite leisurely.

“All of a sudden, after about an hour and a half, these gale force winds started. It was getting so cold, and at that point I was wondering if I could carry on because it was making me feel unwell and exhausted.”

After a break to replenish her energy and have a bite to eat and drink, she battled through and completed the challenge.

But, she has no plans to stop there. She now hopes to scale Snowdon later this month, and has set her sights on taking on Mount Kilimanjaro next year.

In doing so, she wants to raise money for Mind, a charity close to her heart.

“I know so many people who have different mental health issues,” she said.

“I want to create awareness so people know they should not feel stigmatised by it. It is a real problem that people feel they will be judged and that others will look at them differently.

“I want to show people there is light at the end of the tunnel. Exercise and getting out into the outdoors really does help.”