On the 23rd of July 1998, Lester had a life changing accident when he fell 24 ft off scaffolding, resulting in a spinal injury. As part of his rehabilitation journey, Lester was admitted to the National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) for adults and children, and became a patient of the NRH Spinal Injury Programme.
When Lester heard about the new hospital development underway in the NRH, he decided he wanted to give something back to the hospital. He decided to take up the challenge of climbing Croagh Patrick in a custom made wheelchair as a fundraiser to raise vital support for not only the NRH but also another charity, Spinal Injuries Ireland (SII).
On the 25th of June 2022, Lester along with his family, friends, local community and supporters met in the car park of Croagh Patrick to start their ascent. Being pulled up Croagh Patrick was going to be a huge challenge, but Lester and team were now going up the mountain in a yellow weather warning.
From the car park you could not see Croagh Patrick. Visibility was poor, the rain belted down, and winds whipped up dust and hail into the faces of all taking part. Team members rotated to take turns pulling the custom made wheelchair/buggy and the cold was another big challenge for Lester.
Against all the odds, Team Lester flew to the top of Croagh Patrick and made it back down safely again.
After cheers, tears and words of thanks, everyone made it back to after party that evening for the raffle and to celebrate their phenomenal achievement.
Through Lester’s fundraising page and corporate donations, Lester has raised so far over €146,000. This fantastic sum of money will be divided 50:50 with the NRH Spinal Programme and Lester’s other chosen charity Spinal Injuries Ireland.
The money Lester has raised for the NRH will be life changing to the adults and children here on their rehabilitation journey. We are so proud of Lester, his wife Rachel and his family. The work, commitment and determination they have put in these last few months to make this challenge a success have been just incredible. It has been an honour for the NRH Foundation to be part of this journey. We are so grateful to Lester for thinking of the NRH. We can’t wait for him to see the direct difference these funds will have.
Thank you so much!
Team NRH Foundation