Mission accomplished!
Wife cycles 325km to where husband and three other R116 crew died
A MINUTE’S silence was held at Blacksod Lighthouse in Mayo yesterday after the widow of missing R116 rescue helicopter hinchman Ciarán Smith cycled 325km to the spot where he and three other crew died in 2017.
Mother-of-three Martina Smith arrived at 12.30pm – on the couple’s 18th wedding anniversary – having set out from the family home in north Co. Dublin, 14-and-a-half hours earlier.
She was joined on the last leg of her solo cycle to raise funds for the LauraLynn children’s charity by more than a dozen cyclists and a Garda and Coast Guard escort.
As she jumped from her bicycle to kiss the ground, a private helicopter hovered overhead to pay tribute to the four crew who lost their lives in the early hours of March 14, 2017, while returning from a rescue mission.
Among those waiting on the finish line were Martina’s two childhood friends Gina Duffy and Mags McConnell. Gina had introduced Martina to Ciarán, and it was Mags’s mother who served Martina her favourite breakfast of homemade brown bread and marmalade on the morning of their wedding. Yesterday Mags’s son Ross presented Martina with freshly baked brown bread and marmalade after she crossed the finish line.
By last night, Martina had raised more than €23,000 – well in excess of her €16,000 target – for the charity that supports terminally ill children and their families.
Ciarán, 38, was one of four crew aboard the R116 Sikorsky S92 when it crashed four years ago. The bodies of pilot Captain Dara Fitzpatrick and Captain Mark Duffy were recovered but Ciarán and winch operator Paul Ormsby are still missing.
The Ciarán Smith iDonate page is open until the end of the month.
To donate, visit: idonate.ie/CiaranSmithEasttoWest or the Ciarán Smith East to West facebook page.
valerie.hanley@mailonsunday.ie