Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for cervical cancer

KEVIN Cullen is currently ascending Mount Kilimanjaro, one of the biggest peaks in the world, to raise funds and awareness for cervical cancer in memory of his late fiancée.

Walkinstown native Kevin is carrying out different challenges to raise awareness of cervical cancer, helping him through the trauma of losing the love of his life, Aoife O’Donovan to the disease.

The 33-year-old, who is raising money for the Irish Cancer Society, flew to Africa on Monday and started his hike up the near 6,000m-tall Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania a day later.

“It will be up the mountain in five-days and back down in two, so seven days of climbing, and when it comes to the summit part we will be hiking through the night to catch the sunrise at the top,” Cullen tells The Echo.

“I need to have different equipment, so I have been breaking in the hiking boots and all of the hiking gear, walking poles, head torches, that sort of thing.

“My understanding is that it will be quite warm, 30 degrees when we’re going through the rainforest with mosquitoes and various animals running around.

Mount Kilimanjaro

“But then as we get closer to the summit, the incline gets more severe and the hardest night will be the summit night, it will be minus 15 in the snow on the mountain.

“Aoife is the main reason I’m doing it, the idea of Aoife being proud of me for doing this definitely pushes me and I’m sure there will be times on the mountain where it will keep me going.”

By Saturday, Kevin will have summited one of the largest mountains in the world, with months of preparation coming to a head.

Doing the challenge in Aoife’s name has given Kevin something to look forward to every day, taking his full focus.

Kevin asked Aoife 

A native of Dungarvan, Aoife said ‘yes’ when Kevin asked her to marry him in 2018, with the view of marrying in 2022.

As Kevin details, Aoife “started to notice irregular bleeding” but the couple “didn’t think too much into it at the time” until her condition started to deteriorate and required a biopsy in The Coombe in October 2020.

“She was diagnosed with a non-HPV cervical cancer, so it is non-detectable on a smear test, and it was quite advanced at that stage,” Kevin told The Echo in a previous interview.

“So, very quickly, Aoife started chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and she fought so hard, I’m so proud of her for how hard she fought.”

With Aoife undergoing treatment to maintain the cancer and prolong her life, the couple decided to cancel their wedding, which was scheduled for February last year.

However, while Aoife’s condition worsening in St James’s Hospital, Kevin started the process of getting a court injunction so that the couple could wed in the hospital.

“When I asked Aoife to marry me, I had full intention to carry that through, I wanted to call Aoife my wife and say I was her husband, even if it was only for a couple of days,” Kevin said.

“But she died three days before we could get married in the ward. Aoife battled a tough fight for 18 months until she passed on May 1.”

Raising awareness for cervical cancer was at the forefront of Aoife’s mind prior to her death, and Kevin wants to carry that wish on in her memory.

Kevin has undertaken an everyday training regime in the gym to prepare his body for the massive task, and recently completed a training camp in Glendalough.

Although he admits “they’re not quite Kilimanjaro”, Kevin has frequented Bray Head and the Sugar Loaf as a taster for what’s to come this week – when he takes on the real thing.

“I’m really excited about it, there has been so much preparation and I’m looking forward to just enjoying the experience,” Kevin explains.

“I’ve been told that it’s not really something you can anticipate, so I’d imagine when I’m at the top it will be a very surreal experience.

Last year, Kevin completed a 200km charity cycle and raised a whopping €40k and over the last four months, his attention has been on summiting the near Mt Kilimanjaro.

As he started the climb, Kevin’s fundraiser this year had already crossed €9,000.

To support the fundraiser, visit Go Fund Me here.