SHE may have fallen on her face a few times and acquired a series of scrapes but a Central Fife woman raised £1,000 in her grandad's memory.

Oliwia Staniszewska had challenged herself to run up to the ‘closest place to heaven’ and collect money for Parkinson's UK in the process.

Her grandad, Stefan Przybysz, passed away at the age of 74, in December last year, after living with the disease for two decades.

Wanting to raise both funds and awareness of the condition, Oliwia set herself the challenge of sprinting up Ben Nevis, the highest peak in the UK, on Saturday.

Speaking to the Times ahead of the daunting feat, she said: "I’m a religious person, and well, Ben Nevis is the highest peak in the UK, therefore surely the closest place to heaven.

“I just want him to be proud of me and to be as close to him as I can be.

“I think I’ll definitely make it up to the top; I know the female record for running up is 1 hour and 45 minutes so I definitely don’t think I’ll beat that, but hopefully just over two hours!

"If he can struggle with that disease for years and make it look easy, a mountain should be no problem for me."

She was joined by her boyfriend, Callum, who encouraged her along the way.

Oliwia would complete the effort of running 8km to reach the peak, and back down again, in 2hrs 37mins.

Reflecting on her achievement, Oliwia told the Times: "It was honestly horrendously hard.

"I fell flat on my face a few times on the way back down and bruised and scraped my legs to bits.

"I'm still struggling to walk two days after it but I’m so glad I done it.

"We couldn’t have asked for better weather; it was perfect all the way up and down, even though the rest of the week before and after was heavy rain and clouds; my grandad was definitely looking after me that day.

"I just want to say a thank you to everyone who donated and encouraged me along the way.

"The team at Parkinson's UK, my mum and dad, and Callum mostly, they were my biggest support system through this."

Parkinson’s is what happens when the brain cells that make dopamine start to die.

There are more than 40 symptoms, from tremor and pain to anxiety. Some are treatable, but the drugs can have serious side effects. It gets worse over time and there’s currently no cure.

Parkinson’s is the fastest growing neurological condition in the world and, in the UK, around 145,000 people have it.