Galway woman Sharon Moran likes a challenge, so much so, that she undertook climbing Kilimanjaro in aid of NCBI.
Sharon’s two sons Adam and Nathan both have Retinitis Pigmentosa which is a degenerative eye condition. Sharon says, “At the moment the two boys have colour blindness and night blindness, but are coping day-to-day.” Adam and Nathan both enjoy attending workshops in the NCBI centre in Galway and Camp Abilities.
When Sharon signed up to do the Kilimanjaro climb she had never climbed a mountain before. A huge amount of preparation was required before Sharon took off for Kilimanjaro. Sharon trained for three months in advance. She says, “Three months was enough time as I stayed very focused.” Sharon undertook a huge amount of training with a personal trainer.
She followed a strict programme; training three times a week and at weekends, climbed various mountains while carrying a 5k kettlebell in a backpack. During her training Sharon climbed Croagh Patrick, Diamond Hill and Glendalough.
Sharon arrived in Tanzania in January where she spent twelve days; the climb took a whopping seven and a half days in total.
Alongside the intensive training Sharon was also dedicated to raising funds for NCBI through organising a huge amount of fundraising events. These included a jumble sale, a quiz night, a bake n’ cake event, an auction night; two non-uniform days in local schools and an online gofundme.ie account.
Sharon says “I am an outdoorsy person; I have previously done tough mudder and a parachute jump, so this time I said I was going to go big.” Sharon explains why she chose to undertake this huge challenge, “When I found out about the two boys having RP, I went to NCBI. From that day NCBI got me through the low days”.
NCBI would like to say a huge “thank you” to Sharon Moran for her commitment and massive effort to raise an amazing €17,476.22 for NCBI.