The Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge is a gruelling experience for even the most dedicated fitness enthusiast, with its 24km trek across the Yorkshire Dales and ascent and descent of the county’s three highest peaks. So for Paul Mullen to conquer it less than a year after a liver transplant and to raise £1,645 for Liver UK (formerly known as the British Liver Trust) is remarkable.
In August 2025 45-year-old Paul from Nottingham was in intensive care and so seriously ill that his loved ones were saying their final goodbyes. He had been diagnosed in 2023 with a rare autoimmune condition called primary biliary cholangitis where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks and slowly destroys the small bile ducts within the liver. By 2024 the illness had advanced dramatically – Paul’s liver was failing, he was jaundiced and litres of fluid were building up on his stomach.
It was only thanks to a suitable liver donor being found that Paul’s life was saved and he was determined to make the most of the second chance he had been given.
Paul said: “I was still in hospital recovering from the transplant when I decided I was going to do something because I felt I owed it to myself and the person who allowed me to have this second chance.”
So along with his son Alexander, brother Wade Savage, and friends Cam Ward and Jon Windle, they decided to take on the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge.
Paul said: “The Challenge was amazing and it’s surreal to think I’ve done it. It was an emotional experience for us all – there were tears of joy, anger and pain…. but most of all happiness that we raised so much for Liver UK.
“However, even with all the endurance training of 20kms and 30kms I put in before it, it was really tough. There was a lot of ascend and descend climbing and you’d think you’d reached the peak only to see another climb in front of you. 
“When we reached the second peak the gravity of what we’d taken on really hit me. My legs were aching and I thought ‘can I do this?’ And by the time we reached last peak we were seven or eight hours in, really tired and it was taking its toll, but there was no way in this world we weren’t going to complete it. Being able to do this compared to where I was last year was just the best feeling.
“Because it’s also almost a year since the transplant, I was doing this for my donor too. I believe they are living on through me and I hope they were looking down on me feeling like I did them proud.”
Since completing the Three Peaks Challenge, Paul is determined not to rest on his laurels. He has entered the ballot for the London Marathon and, because he has a fear of heights, he is planning to do a skydive. “I’ve been given a second chance,” he said, “and I’m determined to seize the day.”
