Grieving man takes on mountain challenge for murdered brother

Eugene Scardifield, 39, from Hayling Island, is set to complete the National Three Peaks Challenge in honour of his brother, Michael, who was brutally killed in 2015.

Now Eugene will attempt to climb the highest mountains of England, Scotland and Wales within 24 hours.

This challenge comes after he completed a 200-mile charity bike ride, dubbed Cycle for Michael, last year.

Eugene went through a slump after completing the bike ride and began to feel the effects of his brother’s death again.

But he said the charity SAMM, Support Against Murder and Manslaughter, who supports his family, helped him through this stage.

He said: ‘They are always there to talk and they also run retreats three times a year.

‘There is never any elephant in the room when talking about someone’s death.’

He decided to tackle his slump by signing up for the Three Peaks Challenge and is calling it Mountains for Michael.

He said: ‘I chose this challenge because I completed a 60km charity walk in the past but I wanted to be pushed again and have my mind focused on something.’

This year Eugene turns 40 and he said it would be a painful reminder as that was the age of his brother, who grew up in Portsmouth, when he was killed.

He said: ‘The hardest thing about this year is this was the age my brother was taken.’

But Eugene is determined to keep his brother’s memory alive.

He has a BT donate page up and running as well as a Facebook page called Mountains for Michael.

Eugene is attempting to raise £5,000 from his upcoming challenge which is taking place later this year on September 1.

Last year he took on a charity bike ride from Hayling Island to Crewe where the charity he was supporting, SAMM, had a support centre.

Eugene then cycled to Newbury, then to Cheltenham.

He then headed for Wolverhampton, before finally arriving at the centre, 204 miles later.

The ride took him about nine hours in total.