A father endured freezing water, mud and electric shocks in aid of a charity that helped during his son’s difficult birth.

Brian Willett took part in the assault course Tough Mudder, and raised about £1,600 for Ronald McDonald House Charities.

The charity gave him and partner Jodi Baker somewhere to stay in Camberwell, south London, while their son, Jake, was in intensive care in King’s College Hospital, London.

Jake, who is now 20 months old, was born two months premature and was diagnosed with necrotising enterocolitis, a condition that causes tissue in portions of the bowel to die.

The original prognosis was that he would not survive, but a passing surgeon successfully tried a life or death procedure. Mr Willett, of Minster Road, Minster, took just under three hours to complete the 12-mile course in Winchester on Saturday, June 8.

Joining him were brothers-in-law Michael Smith and Jim Baker and friends Russell Jeffrey and Edward Chawner.

The 31-year-old said: “It was hard but a really good laugh. The ice water was the worst.”

Sponsor at www.justgiving.com/jodi-baker