Climbing mental peaks
A retired psychiatric nurse tested his mental abilities by putting himself through the excruciating experience of climbing the largest free-standing peak in the world.
“We’ve been very very lucky, we’ve got to the top,” says the amateur mountaineer, Mickey McKenna (65) following the incredible journey with his son Ciaran by his side. “I’m very excited, it feels great. You don’t realise it until you look back at what you have achieved.”
The two men set off up Mount Kilimanjaro on Thursday, September 22, a journey that took them five days to complete. “We went up in four days and down in one. It should have been five days up and down in one but we skipped the acclimatisation day. I found it difficult to see what this acclimatisation day could do for you positively and we had a chat together about it and we decided to go for it.”
Overall, the climb was a tremendous success for the two lads, with the only negative being the nausea felt by Mickey.
“We both feel great. I’ve had a little bit of stomach sickness today, I’ve been a little bit queasy to say the least but it’s nothing that won’t change with a bit of time, but Ciaran is fine.”
Mickey worked in the field of mental health the majority of his life. Once retired, he wanted to continue to support the cause in any way he could.
“I retired from mental health services eight years ago. I was a psychiatric nurse and I was heavily involved in the transformation to community services.”
Speaking to the Celt about his motivation, Mickey said: “Conquering our personal mountains is something we all battle with in our daily lives, and I want people with mental health and emotional wellbeing problems to see that it is possible to overcome their struggles.”
The Monaghan man decided to take on the task in order to raise money for two mental health charities across Cavan and Monaghan - Pieta House in Cavan and Castleblayney and Solas Drop-In Centre in Monaghan Town.
“These charities implement resilience and recovery programmes to support people with mental health difficulties, particularly in a post Covid environment.
“I wanted to raise money for more of the advocacy end of things and in particular for Pieta House who are doing fantastic work in Cavan and in Monaghan in Castleblayney, we have put a lot of pressure on them to become more localised and more present throughout the country.”
Anyone who knows Mickey wasn’t surprised to hear about his latest quest, following a voyage he took on five years ago when he walked the French Camino trail.
“Anyone who knows me, knows that I’m a bit mad anyway. I walked the Camino and raised something in the region of €15,000 at that time.”
When asked if Mount Everest would be Mickey’s next venture, the pensioner laughed, saying “I don’t think I’ll be taking on Everest any time soon! I’m 65, this will be my last venture because next time I will probably need a zimmer frame.”
Donate
Mickey’s fundraiser has raised over €11,000 so far towards a €30,000 target. It is still open to anyone who wishes to donate. You can find it through the following link: https://www.idonate.ie/fundraiser/MickeysClimb4Recovery