DONEGAL woman Jennifer Doherty, who is blind from birth, received huge praise after returning from her recent trek to Mount Everest base camp.
Jennifer and a group of climbers from the county were led by Letterkenny mountaineer Jason Black who became the first Donegal person to reach the summit of Everest in 2013.
The climbing route used by the group was pioneered by Edmund Hillary and sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953.
Speaking to the Donegal News after her return Jennifer said the opportunity came out of the blue when Jason Black showed up at her house and asked her would she take part in the climb.
“I feel like it happened to someone else not me, it’s the strangest feeling,” said Jennifer.
“Every single minute of it was brilliant. It is never something I thought I would do in my life.”
Before she set off on her adventure the Buncrana native spent two days in the Bluestack Mountains covering 50km in a bootcamp.
“After that I did a lot of walks with my brother and anyone that would go. Some of the group that went met up for walks in different places around Donegal. I have an exercise bike and I did loads of cycling and just ate healthy and got fit,” she said.
On the journey to base camp Jennifer was guided by different members of her group. On one very tough day she was carried by sherpas for an hour and a half as there were a lot of steps.
“You have to trust the person that is guiding you, if they are nervous I can feel it. I completely trust Jason and the rest of the team,” she said.
“I hadn’t walked with any of them until the middle of March and then they were guiding me up Everest, that is still crazy. It was like it didn’t even matter that I was blind I got to do so many things.
“I loved spending so much time in nature everyday. You had so much energy, you were up early and away all day. It was so peaceful away from the internet and away from your phone.
“We laughed everyday, we had so much fun. It was lovely to have a Donegal group, that was really special.
“We met so many lovely people on the trail. We were meeting people coming down and hearing what it was like. Some people were tired, some people were excited, some people were in bad form and then they saw me and they smiled. They were a bit shocked to see a blind person.”
Buncrana woman Jennifer Doherty pictured with climb leader Jason Black during the trek to the Base Camp of Mount Everest.
The trip was all made possible because of the Donegal Centre for Independent Living’s (DCIL) Opportunity Fund.
“The Opportunity Fund encourages people to do things that they never thought they could do or they never thought they had the funding to do,” said Jennifer.
“It encourages people to think outside their comfort zone, and to be brave because it’s scary but it’s the best feeling when you come back and you have done it.”
A special welcome home event was held in DCIL in Letterkenny last week where Jennifer was given a hero’s welcome.
Speaking at the event Jason Black said: “I think it is beautiful and very fitting that this is happening today and so much more doors will open for Jennifer. She has so much more to give.
“One of Jennifer’s greatest strengths is her mental strength. I don’t think anybody realises and I got to see it first hand.”
During the trip they completed 8,700 metres of climbing, 343,000 steps and 330 km in total which Jason described as “mind-boggling”.
“Everybody thinks there’s a trail to basecamp but the one we took was far from a trail. Everything was thrown at us, good weather, bad weather, altitude but the reception both of us received was amazing,” he said.
“Everyday was a challenge because we were covering 20km every day on the most arduous terrain you can imagine in tough conditions yet everyday Jennifer got up and put a smile on and said ‘let’s go’.”
Jennifer Doherty with Jason Black at a reception in the Donegal Centre for Independent Living, Letterkenny, to mark her recent achievement of reaching Everest base camp.
Rosaleen Doherty, Manager of the Donegal Centre for Independent Living, said they were very proud of Jennifer’s achievement.
“The Opportunity Fund is about allowing people with disabilities the opportunity to do something that they may not otherwise be able to do without our financial aid and support,” she said.
“The organisation has grown from what started as a small movement of people who wanted to promote disability independent living services to what it is today.
“We started from very humble beginnings to grow into what’s now one of the largest service providers in Donegal in terms of disability.”
The centre provides personal assistance services, education and support workers as well as providing a hardship fund and a scholarship fund for people with disabilities.
At the reception for Jennifer Doherty in the Donegal Centre for Independent Living were, Michelle Murphy and Kath Waugh.
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