Kilmeena man to cycle through Alps and Pyrenees in memory of brother

Kilmeena man to cycle through Alps and Pyrenees in memory of brother


Anton McNulty

The brother of a 39-year-old man who died from a heart attack just hours after hearing the body of his brother-in-law was found is to cycle across the Alps and the Pyrenees to raise money in their memory.
On August 14, John Geraghty. a native of Kilmeena will set off along with three of his friends from Geneva in Switzerland and travel across the Alps and the Pyrenees to their final destination of Barcelona. John (39) is a brother of the late Peter ‘Petie’ Geraghty of Tubberhill, Westport who was found dead in his car on December 6, just hours after hearing that his brother-in-law, Noel Gill had been found dead in Rotterdam where he was missing since November 19.
The inquest into his death found that Peter - who was only 39-years-old - had died from sudden cardiac failure and John - a clinical nurse in University College Hospital Galway - explained to The Mayo News that he wants to take part in the challenge in memory of both Noel and Peter. He also wants to raise awareness of sudden cardiac failure and proceeds of the Geneva to Barcelona Memorial Cycle will go to Croí, the West of Ireland Cardiac Foundation.
“The two lads died close to each other and in Peter’s case he died from a heart attack which occurred with hardly any warning. There is no history of it in the family and Peter was a healthy, strong lad and was extremely unlucky. This illness was undetected and while everyone was stressed leading up to Noel’s body being found, it came without warning.
“I have been looking to do a cycle in France for a while and I thought I’d do it in memory of the two lads and their devastated families and try to raise awareness of undetected cardiac conditions. People should visit their GP regularly and get themselves checked out for undetected heart conditions and not put it off. They should also have a balanced diet and lifestyle and keep themselves fit,” he said.
John explained that he only started cycling seriously over a year ago having only started in order to recuperate following knee surgery. He admits that he has since been ‘bitten by the cycling bug’ and has taken part in the Wicklow 200 and Tour de Burren Cycle Challenges.
Along with three friends from Galway, they hope to tackle some of the highest peaks in the Alps and Pyrenees which are often used during Le Tour de France, and he is excited about the  gruelling 800km challenge.
“The challenge will last from August 14 - 28 and along the way we hope to travel along some of the routes used in the Tour de France. It will be the first time for me cycling in Europe and while it is daunting we are well up for it. When we start in Geneva we will travel through the Alps along the L’Alpe d’Huez and if we have time we hope to climb the Col du Tourmalet (6,939 ft) which is the highest in the Pyrenees. We have been training an average of 400-500km a week and we are looking forward to putting our fitness to the test,” he said.
If you would like to support John on his Memorial Cycle and raise money for Croí, you can donate to sponsorship cards which will be available locally across the Westport region. Also contributions can be made later this week on fundraising website mycharity.ie.