Photo credit: Jason Black Mountaineering
Buncrana disability advocate Jennifer Doherty has achieved another remarkable milestone by summiting Mount Kilimanjaro.
Jennifer, 38, who was born blind, reached the peak of Africa’s highest mountain alongside Donegal mountaineer Jason Black. The team conquered the 5,895 meters of Kilimanjaro in recent days, culminating their climb this morning.
Celebrating their achievement online, Jason said: “Jennifer Doherty who is brilliantly blind has led the team to summit success on Kilimanjaro in Africa.
“To witness this girl’s strength and determination to summit, embracing every step, facing head-on every challenge like a champion was brilliantly fantastic…..and a gentle reminder that it’s all possible.”
Jason’s admiration for Jennifer grows with each challenge they tackle. In 2022, Jennifer breezed through a 12-day trek to Everest Base Camp. Last year she conquered the Ireland 7 Summits Hiking Challenge, becoming the first blind person to do so.
Reflecting on their Kilimanjaro climb, Jason said: “Together, we scaled the highest peak in Africa, facing challenges head-on and celebrating small victories along the way. Jennifer’s resilience and courage inspired all of us, and she proved that no mountain is too high when you have the will to climb it.”
The expedition was a true team triumph, albeit with some tough decisions along the way. Jason recounted a particularly emotional moment: “Before starting out at 1am from 4900m two team members fell victim to a tummy sickness and for their safety it was best to stay at high camp. It was a very emotional parting as the team moved on.
“Climbing hard our team mantra “one team one dream” rang out pushing us higher and higher into the stratosphere.
“With a sunrise sent straight from heaven we were walking above the clouds. We believed we could fly it was magical, there it was the summit and at 7am we reached the roof of Africa we did it.”