They were teenagers who met on the slopes of Sheffield’s Ski Village and forged a friendship that grew stronger over the decades.
The Ski Village is long gone but the friendship of Rob Brown and Emma Fisher only came to an end only when Emma finally lost her fight against cancer just a few weeks ago.
And it is as his tribute to Emma that Rob is now organising a special challenge that will see him and his friends visit three countries and scale three towering peaks in a 24-hour fundraiser in support of St Luke’s Hospice, where Emma was a patient.
The party of nine - five walkers and a support team of four - are taking part in the national Three Peaks Challenge.
Starting in Scotland on September 21, Rob and the team will climb the 1,345m of Ben Nevis, before going on to tackle the 978m of Skafell Pike in the Lake District and then go on for a finale that will see them climb 1.085m to reach the top of Snowdon in Wales.
The aim is to raise £5,000 for St Luke’s, with some surprise extra challenges at every stop to boost the fundraising total.
“Emma and I met at the Ski Village when we were 16 and working in the boot room there,” said Rob, who lives in Woodseats.
“We had this instant connection because we shared an outdoor passion for walking, snowboarding, anything on the water - that was the backbone of our friendship and it lasted for 26 great years.”
At first it looked like Emma had beaten the breast cancer that first struck in 2016 but when the illness returned more aggressively, she became a St Luke’s patient, where she died in July this year at the age of 43.
“I watched Emma fight so hard for so long and she never once complained to me about it ,” said Rob.
“I visited her at St Luke’s and I couldn’t stop thinking about it, the fact that everybody there was so supportive - and that’s what inspired me to do something.
“We want to raise as much money as possible for St Luke’s and raise awareness too because it really is an incredible place and they did so much for Emma.
“I miss her every second of every day and I know that if she was still here and capable of giving something back to the hospice then she would.
“So I'm doing it for her, this one's for Emma - and I hope that people will remember her and support us.”
To support Rob and the team click here