Banagher's Lisa completes gruelling Arctic challenge

A "personal and collective sense of achievement" is how Banagher native Lisa Byrne described her gruelling week-long Arctic Challenge in aid of the Irish Heart Foundation.

The Offaly woman was one of 14 female participants who completed an expedition 350kms north of the Arctic Circle in the process raising funds for the charity and increasing awareness of the risk of heart disease and stroke in women.

Impacted by her father's heart attack at the age of 50, Lisa decided to take on this personal journey to highlight the importance of heart health.

"I am 45 now and I read the statistics on the Her Heart Matters campaign having a history of cardiac disease in my family. My father was only five years older than I am now when he had his heart attack," Lisa said.

Speaking to the Offaly Independent on her return, the Phibsborough-based pharmacist spoke with pride on achieving her goal to complete the challenge from a personal and collective perspective.

"It was a gruelling but rewarding experience one which live in the memory. Prior to departing for the challenge there was much preparation involved building up endurance levels to ensure that I was able to complete the expedition," Lisa said.

While looking forward to the challenge presented, Lisa was unsure what to expect, but the camaraderie which developed amongst the travelling contingent gave cause for much positivity within the group, ensuring that the challenge was complete en masse.

"Prior to the start of our expedition we spent some time building the skills necessary to ensure we completed our trek. We snow walked and each individual pulled sleighs containing all our camping gear with us. It was an arduous ordeal, both physically and mentally challenging at times, but as a group we remained spirited to the end," Lisa said.

The crew trekked for four to six hours daily, on one particular occasion trudging through seven metres of snow.

"The terrain was varied over the course of our trek and our daily itinerary would change depending on the weather,” she said.

“We camped in the snow but also availed of cabin accommodation en route so we could warm our bodies as temperatures dropped to -20 degrees Celsius," Lisa said.

Having completed an expedition journey of approximately 70 kilometres, Lisa paid tribute to her fellow crew members.

"Individually we all had our cardiac related reasons to take on this Arctic Challenge but the camaraderie we developed in the course of our trek enabled us to collectively complete the expedition," Lisa said.

To date, Lisa has raised over €9,000 for the Irish Heart Foundation (collectively, over €120,000 has been raised by the group). Donations can be made to the fundraising initiative until the end of April.

To do so visit https://eventmaster.ie/fundraising/pages/LB75493667