While you are all sitting comfortably in your chairs reading this article, somewhere on the face of Kilimanjaro in Tanzania there are four men making their way to the summit.
One of those men is Ronan Guilfoyle, managing director of DMS Offshore Investment Services, and all four are raising money for the Temple Street Children’s University Hospital in Dublin, Ireland.
Mr. Guilfoyle’s best friend’s son tragically died from mitochondrial disease, and he wanted to do something to raise money for the hospital. The plan to climb Kilimanjaro was discussed about a year ago, and the four friends decided they would rise to the challenge. Mr. Guilfoyle was in training for months, but, of course, with Grand Cayman lacking significant elevation, he had concerns about how he would cope with altitude sickness. He therefore purchased an altitude training mask that restricts oxygen intake, and wore it around the golf course and at the gym, slowly adjusting it to mimic the atmosphere at greater heights.
“Altitude is a concern,” he said, “as it affects everybody differently. Then of course there is the bitter cold up there. I’m simply not used to any kind of cold temperatures anymore.”
The schedule is five days to reach the summit, and two days to get back down again. The final climb to the top starts at 11.30pm in the pitch black of night, with hopefully arrival at the summit for sunrise. They will spend 30 minutes up there, taking in the view, and then they begin their descent.
DMS has been supportive of Mr. Guilfoyle’s attempt.
“The DMS group is a large supporter of community and charitable efforts in Cayman and encourages staff to give back through our community service programme ‘DMS Gives Back’. Ronan Guilfoyle has taken this to a whole new level with this endeavour and although it is not a Cayman based charity it has been an inspiration to us all. We’re really proud of him for taking this on and will be thinking of him on his journey. The staff of DMS have coordinated a dress down day for during his hike where the money collected will go to his charity drive,” says Trina Savage, vice president of marketing and communications.
If you wish to donate, you can go to Guilfoyle’s fundraising page at www.gofundme.com/wwwtrek4templestreetcom
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