Athlone woman to climb Kilimanjaro in memory of her brother
An Athlone woman is getting ready to climb the tallest mountain in Africa in memory of her brother, who lost his life in a motorcycle accident 17 years ago.
Lavinia Connell from Glynwood, Athlone, will be setting off in mid-October to scale the 5,895 metres of Mount Kilimanjaro.
She will be tackling the climb with her partner, Jason Hassett, in remembrance of her brother, John, who was just 24 when he tragically died in a collision that occurred not far from the family's home in September 2005.
The climb will help raise funds for the Irish Kidney Foundation, and Lavinia is also hoping to use the challenge to highlight the importance of organ donation and carrying an organ donor card.
She explained that, after John's accident occurred, he spent a week in a critical condition in Beaumont Hospital.
"After spending a week on life support, the organ donation coordinator came to speak to my parents, asking that question no parent in their lives should have to answer when already faced with that sudden loss and unbearable grief," Lavinia stated.
She said John did not carry an organ donor card, but a fortnight before the accident his mother had overheard him saying that, if anything happened to him on his motorcycle, he wanted to donate his organs to help others.
"In the midst of this tragedy, Mam found the strength to honour John's wishes," said Lavinia. "John was selfless in life and in death."
The organ donations meant that "five people received the gift of life" because of Lavinia's brother.
"The man that received John's heart was the same age as him. He now has a wife and kids and is still in contact with my parents.
"Although the pain of 'why could John not have that life' will always be there, the comfort of knowing his heart is still beating is something words cannot describe. That recipient received a heart of gold," she said.
Lavinia and her partner are both members of the Defence Forces. She is in the Medical Corps in Athlone, while Jason, who is from Tipperary, is stationed in The Curragh.
She said climbing Kilimanjaro was "something I always wanted to do," and although it had not been on Jason's 'bucket list' he agreed to take on the climb with her in a show of support.
Lavinia previously took part in the 2006 Dublin City Marathon to help raise funds toward the provision of a family room at Beaumont Hospital for relatives who had to stay in the hospital to support a critically ill loved one.
While she and Jason have completed various climbs around Ireland, Kilimanjaro will be on another level to anything they've done previously.
"There's no doubt that it's going to be challenging," Lavinia said, adding that the couple would be climbing as part of a group on a trip organised by the Wicklow-based 'Earth's Edge' adventure travel company.
Lavinia has organised a 'Kilimanjaro' fundraiser on Facebook (which can be found here), with the goal of raising €2,000 for the Irish Kidney Association.
As of Friday evening, 52 people had already made donations, totalling €1,409.
"The climb is very much about remembering John. It's great to be able to help raise money for the Irish Kidney Association, but it will mean even more if people see this and decide to start carrying an organ donor card," she said.