There ain’t no mountain high enough for Portlaoise man George Percy.
On Sunday 6 May, George and 16 others will climb the 764 summit of Croagh Patrick to raise €15,000 for the Irish Guide Dog Association.
A world-record breaker
This isn’t the first momentous challenge George has embarked on. In 2001 he set a Guiness World Record for being the first blind man to drive a truck for 50km in a record-breaking 54 minutes and 54 seconds.
George drove the truck 30 times up and down the on-mile course in Baldonnell Aerodrome setting both speed and distance records.
The 460 horse-power articulated truck was fitted with a two-way radio that allowed George to be in constant communication with a navigator who will help guide him along the way.
George’s wife Tracey is climbing the mountain too and is also visually impaired. George and Tracey think they might be the first blind and visually impaired couple to climb the summit.
Unbreakable bonds
George lost his sight in 1995 aged 26. In 1999 he got involved with the Irish Guide Dogs and he says that it has formed unbreakable bonds in his life.
“The bond I have with Hallie and Clancy before her, Clancy, are unbreakable. The saying ‘One man and his dog’ really is true,” said George.
George has also gotten to know some of his closest friends through the Irish Guide Dogs.
Dick O’Connell, Jim Delaney and Brian Fennell are all members of the association and along with others, joined George for a ‘test run’ and climbed the Sugarloaf mountain in Tipperary last weekend.
Brian said, “We used a harness and had a person supporting George going up and down the mountain. We were worried about the slope going down but there was no fear in George, he was going as fast as I was!”
George then said that he had to catch Brian once instead of it being the other way around.
George and his friends managed to climb up and down the mountain in a remarkable feat of three hours.
George hopes the uniques ideas for fundraising might, “get people interested and raise funds for a guide dog to receive training.”
“The life of a guide dog cost €35,000 – from birth to training and retirement,” said chairman Dick O’Connell.
“There are eight dogs currently in Laois and the money is going towards training another guide dog for someone who needs it,” Dick added.
How to donate
Donations can be made by visiting here. There is also a fundraising night in Kavanagh’s Pub, Portlaoise, with live music on Friday May 4.
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