A TEENAGER visited all 230 tube stations in London in 17 hours to raise money for the charity which tried in vain to save the life of his father.

Earlier this year, Alastair Gibson’s life was thrown into turmoil when his dad, Nigel, collapsed at home.

The 17-year-old, from Hexham, said: “We found out it was a heart attack.

“We did what we could for him, but it is a total blur. The circumstances of losing my dad in the way we did will stick with me forever.”

As he attempted to come to terms with his loss, Alastair, a former student of the town’s Queen Elizabeth High School, resolved to raise money for the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS), which had sent its overnight rapid response car in an effort to save Mr Gibson.

He said: “Not long after it happened, I thought to myself, how can we give back to GNAAS – what can we do?

“I just really wanted to do something completed different to your normal fund-raising event. That’s when I came up with the ‘all the tube stations challenge’.”

Alastair decided that the way he was going to fund-raise for GNAAS was to visit every single tube station in London in just one day.

Along with his mum and three friends – Ella Davidson, Harry Myers and Eddie Plaskitt – he started to plan the journey six months in advance, working out timings down to the last second and planning breaks along the way.

They completed the challenge in 17 hours, 44 minutes and 18 seconds and raised £705 for GNAAS.

Now Alastair is backing GNAAS’ Critical Care 24/7 appeal, which is fund-raising to make the charity’s overnight rapid response service seven days a week, as opposed to the four which is currently the case.

He said: “I feel like this 24/7 campaign has come at the perfect time. GNAAS have hit the nail on the head – four nights really is not enough.

“Situations like my dad’s can happen anytime and anywhere.”

Alastair is also trying to raise awareness of the importance of good CPR in his dad’s memory.

He added: “I just want to say thank you to every single person who came out to us on what was, without doubt, the most difficult night of my life.” To find out more about the 24/7 Appeal, visit gna.as/247-appeal