Woman dies on Africa charity trip
Fundraising mission to Mt Kilimanjaro ends in tragedy as Cork woman dies while on mountain
A YOUNG Irish woman who had travelled to Africa to climb Mount Kilimanjaro for charity died tragically in mysterious circumstances yesterday.
Majella Duffy, from Fermoy, Co. Cork, travelled to the African country to scale one of the world’s highest peaks in honour of her father, who died of a heart attack when she was a teenager.
But she died before she could begin her climb. Earth’s Edge, which organises adventure holidays, issued a brief statement saying: ‘We have a group trekking on Kilimanjaro at the moment and one of our team has unfortunately passed away.
‘She died of unknown causes while being attended to by a doctor at the scene.’
An earlier statement on the company’s Facebook page said: ‘A client of ours passed away on the 14th July 2017 at 8.15am local time while on Kilimanjaro. Our thoughts and condolences are with her family. We will provide further information on this incident in due course.’
A spokesman for Earth’s Edge said reports that she died in road accident were inaccurate.
Fermoy councillor Deirdre O’Brien last night paid tribute to the brave fundraiser, and said Majella’s former workmates in Laya Healthcare in Cork were heartbroken by news of her sudden death.
She said: ‘I’m devastated, I worked with her for six years at Laya and I was just messaging her recently on Facebook to wish her all the best with the climb. She was an only child and this was her way of paying tribute to her father. She recently had a fundraising event at Cork Golf Club to raise funds for the Irish Heart Foundation.
‘Everyone in Laya is just devastated to hear the news. My thoughts are with her family, her mother and her grandmother.’
Ms Duffy, who was in her 30s, recently took to social media to thank everyone who had donated money to her Kilimanjaro climb, posting this heartfelt message just one week before her death.
She wrote on Instagram on July 7: ‘Thank you to everyone who supported and donated to the Irish Heart Foundation. I am proud to say we raised €8,727.60.
‘I am so overwhelmed at how generous people are, the support and help I got organising the events was amazing. Thank you to my family, friends, neighbours, community and new people I have met through fundraising.’
Her family were notified of her death yesterday afternoon, and a spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs said it was liaising with her relatives.
Majella created her own fundraising page on the everyday hero website to raise funds for her Kilimanjaro climb.
She wrote: ‘I’m inspired by the work of Irish Heart Foundation and wanted to support them by raising money.
‘I lost my dad who was only 47 years old to a massive heart attack 15 years ago. My entire life turned upside down in just a few minutes and was never going to be the same again.’
The fitness enthusiast regularly posted about her fundraising challenge on social media.
A spokesperson for the Irish Heart Foundation was not available for comment last night.
‘This was her way of paying tribute’