by Louise Doyle
LETTERKENNY woman Nikki Bradley is no stranger to climbing mountains, but she is scaling a mountain of a different nature as she takes on a gruelling canvas ahead of her general election bid.
A disability advocate and cancer survivor, Senator Bradley was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma when she was 16 years of age.
She has since become an adaptive adventurer and public speaker, founding ‘Fighting Fit for Ewings’ – a fitness based awareness campaign.
She was appointed Senator for Fine Gael by Taoiseach Simon Harris in July, branching her attention into politics. In her latest challenge, Senator Bradley is contesting the upcoming general election. It’s tipped to take place on November 29.
Speaking to the Donegal News, Senator Bradley said she was enjoying her canvas trail but admitted it is very physically demanding on her body.
Having put out a call online last week for volunteers to help her canvas in Letterkenny, she said she was “overwhelmed” by the response.
“I’m concentrating on getting around as many houses as I can. We’re doing a hybrid campaign, so our online presence is really important. I won’t lie, it is tough getting around the houses, even getting in and out of the car can be quite painful. Navigating it all is somewhat of a challenge but I knew that going into it,” she said.
“I was overwhelmed by the response for help. I know that this is only short term. It will be a short election, and hopefully at the end of it we will get a good result but being able to stand on the doorsteps and have conversations with people is really important.”
Senator Bradley has already canvassed around many parts of Letterkenny, including Ard O’Donnell. Volunteers are asked to gather at the Church of the Irish Martyrs on Saturday at 11am to help in the next stage of her canvas.
“We’ll be going around the Gortlee area, where my home house is this weekend. It’s such a big area, and everyone is welcome if they want to come along with us. It is also lovely having conversations with people on the canvas trail, and I think it is very fitting for the type of community spirit that Donegal has – that people are happy to come out and support me in my own area of Letterkenny and where I live in Milford.”
She said issues she has heard on the doors have unsurprisingly included health.
“Because of my own situation, a good 70 to 80 per cent of the conversations I have are with people who have various forms of disability, or who have family members with an illness or disability. I have spoken to quite a few cancer patients, people with various disabilities and their issues are about having to travel outside of the county for treatment. That’s a big one, especially for slightly older residents to travel outside the county. There’s such a huge amount of organisation involved in getting someone from Donegal to Dublin or Galway.
“Difficulties in getting medical cards has been coming up too, even among cancer patients which is quite shocking.
“Obviously being in the county we are in, defective blocks is also coming up quite a bit. What I would say is that I have spoken with quite a few people who have come through the system or who have family members who have gone through the system and are out the other side now. Not everyone has had the really negative experience. I don’t want to take away from those who have, but for people who are at the start of this journey it’s important to say that there are plenty of people who have come through the journey, which is a positive side to the crisis.”
With her life experience, and championing disability and health issues, Senator Bradley has a strong manifesto for her general election bid. She is also challenging the under representation of women in politics.
Having stepped away from mountain climbing temporarily, she has plans to climb Errigal once again when the election canvas is finished.
“People answering the doors have said to me, ‘aren’t you that woman who climbed mountains?’ A lot of people havent’t forgotten that, and even though I have stepped away from that just for now, the mountains are not going anywhere. When I have a bit of free time Errigal is definitely on the list.”
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