MINEHEAD friends Ray Hall, Paul Jury, Tom Giles and Sam Pershouse raised £1,558 for the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance by putting themselves through sheer hell. The four took on the notorious Tough Mudder challenge, which took them across 12 miles and through 25 obstacles including electric shocks, barbed wire, ice pools, fire and lots and lots of mud. Created by former members of the Special Forces, the Reading event is designed to be among the toughest on the planet. Ray - who lost two stones during training for the challenge - said the entire experience had been "life changing". "My brother had been training me to do the event but, unfortunately, he suffered a football injury and was unable to take part. "However, I had motivation from my teammates and my partner and was able to achieve my goal, and even lost two stones in the process, which was a personal and life-changing goal of my own," Ray said. The West Somerset Tough Mudder team is pictured enjoying some well-earned refreshment after completing the event.