Hamish tackling Scotland’s three highest peaks for Hearts + Balls
23 Jun 2025Former Blairgowrie back Hamish Bell, who suffered a cardiac arrest in training in 2021, has said he owes his life to the defibrillator that was accessible at his club.
Now, the 24-year-old is embarking on a challenge in order to raise funds for Hearts + Balls, the charity with whom Scottish Rugby partnered last year in their own defibrillator scheme.
Last October, on World Restart a Heart Day, Scottish Rugby teamed up with Hearts + Balls to create an initiative whereby every clubhouse in Scotland should have access to a life-saving defibrillator.
Supported by The British Heart Foundation, £25,000 was made available by Hearts + Balls to help ensure that should it be needed, rugby clubs are best-placed to help in a cardiac emergency, whether on the field of play or within the local community.
No fewer than 35 rugby clubs in Scotland were fitted with an AED defibrillator, many of them fitted externally so as to benefit the whole community.
Now, Hamish is giving back by attempting to climb Scotland’s three highest peaks in the space of 24 hours.
Pictured: Hamish on a recent training hike in the Cuillin hills in Skye
And in order to summit Ben Macdui, Braeriach & Ben Nevis in such speed, Hamish is relying on a support team that would rival Sherpa Tenzing.
“We will be starting at first light on 25 June, camping the night before,” explained Hamish. My partner Niamh and her sister Claudia will be keeping us fed by cooking while we are walking, and we’ll have snacks and plenty of refreshments.
“The night before will be very chilled plan is to get to our camp spot early and fire up the wood fired pizza oven and just chill out then get an early night.
After the first two are complete, roughly 9 hours or so, we will return to camp and eat while the girls drive us to Ben Nevis, where they will also be accompanying us up the hill.
“Our goal is sub-24hours; estimated time is 19.5 hours with no breaks, so there is a little time to play with for having breaks to beat 24 hours.
“The weather looks great and we are hoping the forecast doesn’t change but at the top of these hills it can sometimes be a different story..!”
You can support Hamish’s adventure here: https://www.justgiving.com/page/scottish3peakschallenge
