Crutch-user climbs Carrauntoohil – and three more peaks!
DONEGAL woman Nikki Bradley began her ascent of Carrauntoohil on Saturday morning, July 21 – and 32 hours later, she had completed conquered another three mountains. More extraordinary still, she did so on crutches – an achievement she believes was unprecedented.
By the time Ms Bradley completed her fourth mountain at 3pm on Sunday – Mount Errigal in her native Donegal – she had spent 18 of the previous 32 hours on the mountains, climbing at the crack of dawn and through the night. She also conquered Slieve Donard in County Down and Croagh Patrick in Mayo.
As a teenager, she was diagnosed in 2002 with cancer – Ewing’s Sarcoma – and underwent treatment until 2004. But the ordeal left her with severe damage to her hip, and since 2013, she has used crutches on a constant basis.
Discussing her astonishing achievement, Ms Bradley explained that she carried it out with no little help from the hugely experienced Iain Miller, Billy Sanneran, and boyfriend Ian Parke – and revealed that Kerry had played its part in her preparation as well as being part of her ensuing feat.
“My training picked up properly in January, and I’d actually been in Kerry as part of that training,” she said. “I climbed Mount Brandon, and the following day I did Carrauntoohil.
“This time around, I took a different route, going up and down the Devil’s Ladder. It wasn’t easier, but it was faster.”
Having started out at 6am on Saturday, she was back down from Carrauntoohil by 2pm. In 2013, Ms Bradley founded an awareness campaign called ‘Fighting Fit for Ewing’s’, highlighting the importance of exercise for rehabilitation. She also hoped to raise awareness of the illness.
The weekend’s efforts were far from her first foray into the extraordinary. She has much experience of mountain and rock climbing; completed a 24-kilometre Special Forces march in winter conditions in Wales; and scaled an Icelandic glacier.
Her latest exploits raised funds for three cancer charities: the Irish Cancer Society, Action Cancer, and the Ross Nugent foundation. She has raised more than €7,000 to date via online and off-line donations.
She explained that she contacted emergency groups ahead of each of the four climbs as a precaution, but while the challenge proved understandably draining, she achieved what she set out to do.
“We’re keeping the GoFundMe page open,” she said.
“If you want to donate, visit www. gofundme.com/4peaks.”