My wife’s stepfather passed away from lung cancer in 2012. It was a short illness; he was diagnosed only six months before.
His name was Tommy and he was born and bred in Dublin. He was a larger-than-life character. A gentleman who told the best stories and loved the great outdoors.
I remember visiting him in the hospital, seeing this larger-than-life man slowly fading away.
I was just standing there wanting to do something. I did so much research at the time about men’s mental health and cancer prevention. I wanted people to know why it is so important to get checked.
" In his honour, myself and a few friends signed up to grow a moustache, but I wanted to do something more. "
He passed away in early November, at the time of Movember. In his honour, myself and a few friends signed up to grow a moustache, but I wanted to do something more. I came up with the idea to climb the highest mountain in Leinster, Lugnaquilla.
The Lug'MO'quilla Challenge was born! I set up a page called LugMOquilla and it grew year after year. From the first hike nine years ago that started with some friends, it has grown from a group of 20 to 100s of people from all corners of Ireland hiking together.
I’ve gotten to meet some very interesting people all with their own stories and reasons for taking on the challenge. We have raised over €100k in the past ten years.