Manchester GAA player conquers Everest

Former St Bede's pupil Patrick O’Neill, aged 27, who is also a regualr gaelic football player with of St Ann's GAA has just finished a trek in the Himalayas, raising money for the international aid agency, CAFOD. Alongside, two other adventurers Patrick has scaled several mountains including Namche, Tengboche and Kala Pattar. This was a warm up to his conquering of Mount Everest where he made it to Base camp, he returns on the 14 May.

When asked about his adventure Patrick replied “We have been trekking to a maximum altitude of 18,500ft, when we climbed Kala Pattar it dwarfed anything I have previously climbed. To put it in perspective, Ben Nevis, the tallest mountain in the UK is a mere 4,000ft. However, whilst I was a little worried about the altitude, seeing Mount Everest and the some of the other Himalayas was a fantastic experience.”

Patrick, who currently works in the residential childcare sector, decided to take on some of the world’s tallest mountains in order to raise funds and awareness for the development projects CAFOD support around the world. CAFOD works with local communities in 64 countries to help them meet their own needs. It does this through more than 500 partner organisations which are staffed by local people to help reduce poverty.

“Every few seconds someone in the developing world dies of starvation or preventable diseases. Raising money for CAFOD to help alleviate these problems is all the motivation I need, and knowing that the money raised will help at least several of those people.”

“I would like to thank everyone who sponsored me so far and remind others that there is still time to do so.”

Any wishing to sponsor Patrick can log onto the following website www.charitygiving.co.uk/paddyon7