A determined Donegal woman is currently on an incredible journey scaling Mount Everest - at home!

Teresa Doherty has brought fundraising to a new level by scaling the height of Everest on her own staircase for Donegal Hospice.

She is currently on day four of the gruelling climb and is being boosted every step of the way by kind donations to her fundraising page on www.idonate.ie

Teresa Doherty

Mount Everest is Earth’s highest mountain at 8,848m above sea level – that’s 44240 stairs in Teresa’s house in Letterkenny. The Buncrana native has broken the distance down to 3403 flights and plans to do 340 flights a day for 10 days.

Teresa rose to the challenge to help the Hospice after being inspired by Derry woman Chloe Tinney.

I had seen on Monday morning Chloe’s great idea to climb Mount Everest from home in aid of the Foyle Search and Rescue and wanted to do something similar for another very worthy cause. It was a very spur of the moment decision but in the end, I just thought why not,” Teresa said.

Teresa’s climb has been going smoothly so far, with not too many ups and downs!

“I’ve broken it down into phases to try avoid injury and mental blocks so I try do some in the morning, lunch and then the remainder in the afternoon. I’m now on day 4 and feeling good physically and mentally, my legs are quite stiff but that is to be expected.”

Teresa’s fundraising page has already collected €820 in donations as friends and family virtually cheer her on. She hopes the challenge might inspire others to support the Hospice in their own way.

“The support and donations have been motivating me and I am absolutely blown away by the response so far. I would like to thank everybody who has shared, donated or shown their support in any way. It means so much. 

“This is a cause I’m sure nobody ever hopes to have to use but it has helped so many people and their families in hard times. Given what is going on the moment, unfortunately they can’t fundraise in the usual ways so while we’re at home anyways, why not try these alternative methods. 

“No matter how big or small, every little helps!”

If you’d like to help Teresa further escalate her fundraising total, visit: www.idonate.ie/TeresaDoherty