Fort Augustus rowing ace presents Down's Syndrome charity cheque
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IT was the adventure of a lifetime for Michael Prendergast and every pound he raised in donations was hard-earned.
The 23-year-old spent 49 days crossing the Pacific in a rowing boat to raise funds for a charity that helps his 17-year-old brother who has Down’s Syndrome.
And it all unfolded just weeks before starting brutal training with the Royal Marines to fulfil his dream of leading soldiers on a battlefield.
Watching him hand a cheque for £5050 to Down’s Syndrome Scotland at a heart-warming ceremony, his mother Amanda beamed with pride but admitted goose bumps were mixed with the joy.
“We are so proud,” she said. “I just wonder what’s going to come next.”
The former Gordonstoun Academy pupil from Fort Augustus was part of a team which was first to cross the finish line of the Great Pacific Race in July.
Mum-of-seven Mrs Prendergast, a maths tutor at Gordonstoun School where husband Peter is deputy head of the junior school, said “the challenge lying ahead is massive”.
Michael is determined to join the military elite but it was his grandfathers who set the bar high.
His maternal grandfather, author David Lessels, also a military man, fulfilled his own dream in the 1950s by walking and hitch-hiking the length of Africa to capture the early development of African cultures.
Paternal grandfather, Brigadier Guy Lenox-Prendergast, was a commanding officer in the British Army’s Long Range Desert Group, members of which were assigned to guide the SAS.
Michael said: “They strove for excellence and that’s good mental training.”
