Community First Responders
Waterville Community First Responders group are up and running as of Monday the ninth of June. The group will provide back-up assistance to our ambulance service for medical emergencies such as heart attack, choking, stroke, drowning etc. and give the casualty a better chance of survival by minimising the delay in the arrival of medical assistance and increase the chances of survival. The service is activated by the regular ambulance service and assists the casualty until the ambulance arrives.
In the case of an emergency the number to dial is 999 or 112. The call will be taken in the normal way and the First Responder on call will be contacted along with the ambulance personnel etc.
All C.F.Rs are fully trained in the skill of C.P.R and how to operate a defibrillator.
The first two C.F.R's to take up duty are Bunty Donnelly and Bridie Moran.
For further information contact John Galvin 0877403732 or Jacinta Foley 0876607703.
Micheál Sugrue of Beenbane & Birmingham
Micheál Sugrue, formerly of Beenbane passed away recently in Bermingham. Micheál emigrated in 1948 and like many more of his countrymen started in the construction business. After some time he started his own company employing many men from Kerry and other parts of Ireland doing contract work for the building trade.
In 1958 Micheál, Edward O’ Sullivan (Sneem), Eamonn Flanagan (Roscommon) and current Waterville Club chairman Paddy Fogarty were founder members of the St. Brendan’s GAA Club. Micheál was the driving force behind this club up to recent times.
Micheál attended his first All Ireland Football Final in 1946 and was at every final up to 2006 except for 1947 when the final was played in the Polo Grounds, New York. His wife Catherine accompanied him at most All Irelands whether Kerry was involved or not. He was always a great follower of the Waterville club and constantly kept in touch with events locally.
Micheál’s funeral took place at St. Dunstan’s church, King’s Heath, Birmingham and was attended by a large crowd of friends, former workmates and extended family. The funeral mass was celebrated by Fr. Fitzpatrick from Kilmakerin. Geraldine Fogarty travelled from London to sing at the mass and later at the graveside.
Waterville GAA club extends its sympathy to Micheál’s wife Catherine, his family Micheál, Patricia, Diane, Catherine, Caroline and Denis. Micheál has two nephews living in Waterville, Gerard and John Joe Curran. We extend our sympathy to them and their families also.
Go ndéana Dia trócaire ar a anam dílis, is go raibh sé ar dheis lámh Dé.
From The Top of Tarmons to the Top of The World
First Kerry Man to Conquer Everest
Reaching a new height is a phrase often used to describe an achievement of special significance but this is doubly true in the case of local hero John Dowd from Tarmons.
John is well renowned for his exploits with the Kerry Mountain Rescue group and his great interest in mountain climbing. On March 28th along with eighteen others he headed off to conquer Everest. The expedition was led by American Dan Mazure, who hails from Seattle.
They took a plane to Katmandu and then on to the small village of Lukla in the Cumbu valley in Nepal. Strangely there are no proper roads to Lukla but it does have an airstrip, which was built by Sir Edmund Hillery after his famous climb in 1953. The airstrip was actually constructed in 1960. The party then had to trek on foot to Base camp which is 5400m above sea level. Nine days later on April 9th they reached their destination and after a few days rest they started stocking up three more camps further up the mountain.
Gas, stoves, food such as rice, canned tuna, chocolate, complan and packet soups were just some of the items that had to placed at each camp. Each climber also had to have a minimum of five cylinders of oxygen. This was an exhausting and energy sapping exercise. John’s companion for the climb was local man Tenzing Sherpa, who is a farmer when not climbing.
On May 16th the final ascent was attempted from camp four and the summit was reached on May 21st. John was in the first group that set off from camp four at eight pm on May 20th and they were on Top of the World at seven am on May 21st. They stayed at the summit for thirty minutes approximately and thus John became the first Kerry man to conquer Everest.
Over the next few days ten more of their group made it to the top but unfortunately some others couldn’t get there for a number of reasons. The descent to camp four took about five hours and they rested there overnight. It took three days in total to get from the summit back down to Base Camp.
They rested again for three more days and then walked the thirty miles back to Lukla. They then took a plane to Katmandu and finally home.
Kilimanjaro is next on the list and John plans to attempt that in January 2009. Cosioska in Australia also beckons after that.
John had an astonishing C.V. even before conquering Everest. Mt McKinley in Alaska, Mt Vincent in Antartica, Mt Elbrus in Russia and Aconcagua in Argentina have all been climbed. He has also climbed in Kazakstan, Tibet and Pakistan. He is the first Irishman to have climbed to a height in excess of 8000m (Broad Peek in Pakistan). 
John’s family, friends and many well wishers gathered in the Waterville Inn on Saturday evening June 14th to celebrate this historic feat.
In attendance were Christy McCarthy from Kerry Mountain Rescue, Pat Falvey a renowned climber himself and South Pole Explorer, Tim O’Connor from Glencar who was attempting the same feat as John but with a different group. Tim unfortunately failed just 350m from the top. They all spoke highly and warmly of John’s perseverance and tenacity. Pat Everett on behalf of IRD Waterville presented John with a framed memento of his achievement.
We say “Well done” to John and wish him continued success in his chosen activity. Below are some pics from the Waterville Inn. Click each pic to see more.
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