VIDEO: Doncaster man in short-term pain for long-term gain in Ben Nevis charity climb

But former television personality Phil Whyman, who hasn't been back to work since he slipped and fell on the descent at the end of August, said the money he and wife Sara raised for Tommy's, a charity which aims to save babies' lives, was worth his short-term pain.

Mr Whyman injured his right sacroiliac joint - in his lower back - in the fall, which has seriously affected his mobility.

He said he hit the rocks hard.

"I landed on my backside with a bit of a thump," Mr Whyman, a Campsall man, said.

"But I didn't notice, with the adrenaline going through my body."

The pain, he said, kicked in later, and is still plaguing him.

"If you do too much, it hurts, and if you don't do enough, it hurts," Mr Whyman, who is 46, said.

Snow, sleet, driving rain and hail hampered Mr and Mrs Whyman, and their family friend, Graeme Croft, on the nine-hour climb near Inverness.

Thick fog reduced visibility to 'about 20 feet', which Mr Whyman said was 'demoralising'.

"It was so misty, we kept thinking we were there," he said.

"It's the hardest climb I've ever done, that's for sure."

Mrs Whyman also suffered on the climb up the tourist route. She had to abandon the journey about three-quarters of the way up the four-mile trek with severe abdominal pain.

"Sara was absolutely devastated she couldn't make it," Mr Whyman said.

"I said 'you've got to go down, you're in so much pain'."

After wondering whether he'd be able to complete the arduous climb, he thought about the recipients of the money he was raising, and found the will to continue.

"Five hundred metres from the top, I said to myself 'you're not going to do it, you can't do it'," he said.

"But I had a think about what I was doing it for."

The couple have raised more than 600 pounds for the charity.