Russ, aged 32, from Cantley, is today heading out to the famous historic Inca village of Machu Picchu, high in the Andes, in a bid to help unborn babies.

He is among 48 people who will be following the Inca Trail to the site in aid of charity Action Medical Research next week, in the hope of raising £150,000.

The trek will take four days to complete, with Russ and his cohorts braving altitudes of up to 4,200m at Dead Woman's pass before reaching The Sun Gate and the lost city of Machu Picchu.

Funds raised will help Action Medical Research fund its work. The charity has already helped develop the polio vaccine in the UK, ultrasound scanning in pregnancy, hip replacement surgery.

Russ decided to take part in the expedition because of the work it does on researching early pregnancy - a matter close to his heart.

He and wife Lisa were devastated four years ago when they lost a baby through miscarriage.

They had thought the baby was fine until the three-month stage. Initially doctors suspected it was an ectopic pregnancy, where the foetus develops in the wrong place.

But further tests revealed it had stopped developing. The trauma for Russ and Lisa was made worse because surgery was necessary to remove their foetus from the womb.

"It was a traumatic time," said Russ. "But it was hard to feel sorry for yourself in the hospital, because all around you were people going through their own problems."

Just over a year later, the couple had their first child together - daughter Max, who is now a happy and energetic three-year-old. Russ has not forgotten what he and Lisa went through with the miscarriage.

But he said: "It was a really hard time to get through and at the time we thought we were going to be crying for ever.

"But if what had happened had not occurred we would not have Max now. We would not change her for the world."

Russ also had two children from a previous relationship.

He decided to go on the trek with Action Medical Research after seeing an advertisement for their work.

Russ said: "I was first drawn to the charity through its Touching Tiny Lives campaign, which is working to reduce pregnancy complications, premature births, and giving more babies a better start in life.

"This campaign holds a personal importance to me and my family. Before I knew it, I was busy raising funds by bag-packing in Morrison's, holding raffles and signing up to a four day trek!"

He is looking forward to seeing a site he expects to be one of the most beautiful he has seen.

He added: "In the army I visited many beautiful places but which were not beautiful at the time because of what was going on. Bosnia and Kosovo are beautiful places, but not when there were wars raging."

Anyone looking to know more about the charity or wanting to contribute sponsorship can visit www.action.org.uk/~russparks for more details.

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