ON Friday (16 August), Ballymartin resident Darren Toner will begin a once-in-a-lifetime trek through the Peruvian Andes to raise money for the Darby Rimmer Motor Neurone Disease Foundation.
He will hike a circuit of the Cordillera Huayhuash mountain range, which is a 100km trek, regarded as one of the most spectacular routes in the Andes, and one of the best hiking routes in the world.
Darren is taking on the journey to raise money for the MND charity, and he hopes to raise £1,500.
So far, he has raised over £500 through his Just Giving page.
The inspiration for raising money for the MND charity came from his connection to former footballer Marcus Stewart, who played for Ipswich, Sunderland and Bristol Rovers.
Darren’s wife Victoria told the Mourne Observer: “Marcus Stewart is in his 50s. He was fit as anything. He played for Bristol Rovers, Darren’s favourite team.
“We used to go to watch Bristol Rovers all the time and Marcus Stewart would play.
“Then he became a coach and Darren got pally with him, just from being a fan. He lived in the same town as us. We got to know him really well from being about.
“When Darren found out that Marcus had been diagnosed with this, he was just so shocked.
“He has always seen him as this fit guy. When Darren was last over in Bristol he went over to visit him. His deterioration is just so sad. It is such a cruel disease.
“Darren has raised money for cancer charities and for stroke charities but after seeing Marcus he decided to raise money for an MND charity.
“A friend in Annalong has also found out that his mother has MND, so that was another reason.”
The reason for having a charity hike came about because it is a passion that took hold of Darren ever since he moved to County Down six years ago.
“The minute we moved here he said let’s go and explore the mountains. I would go up with him.
“We would go up the Blue Lough and Lough Shannagh. We can see Binnian from our house. We would be up Binnian a lot. Then he got addicted and was timing himself. He could get up Binnian in 45 minutes. Soon after he did the Seven Summits Challenge.
“He just loves it. He takes it very seriously.
“When we lived in Bristol we didn’t have any mountain ranges. Since living here, he has fallen in love with hiking and he has gone from strength to strength with it.”
Climbing the Mournes started the passion for hiking. The more Darren hiked, the more he wanted to climb bigger mountains.
Victoria said: “His first biggish trek ever was to the Himalayan mountains a few years ago for cancer research.
“After doing that he has got itchy feet.”
Then he got the idea to go to Peru.
“He has never been to South America. He has always wanted to go there.
“We have been to lots of places, travelling and backpacking. South America was next on the list.”
With a busy bed and breakfast business and their daughter Isla and dog Hugo to look after, Victoria told Darren that he should go and do the trip.
Darren decided to go with a friend from Bristol.
Initially he was going to do the hike as a fun trip.
But Victoria suggested otherwise.
“Because he is doing such a big challenge in the Andes, with the terrain and altitude, I said to him I know you are doing it with Mark because you are both passionate about climbing but I said why are you not doing it for charity? He said he didn’t know, and that he should do.”
This trek comes not long after Darren completed the Seven Summits Challenge for a second time, on that occasion raising money for a cancer charity.
Family and friends had been so generous when supporting him on that occasion that Darren didn’t think he should ask for more money. So Victoria decided instead to contact the Mourne Observer so that more people could hear about the challenge.
“The trip is self-funded,” she said. “Even if someone sees the page, and has a family member suffering from [MND] then we might get a few more donations.
“Every little helps.
“I know that it will be in the back of his mind if he has a hard day it will keep him going.
“He is such a modest person. He wouldn’t have contacted the newspapers. But I said you need to get your story out there. Your story is amazing.”
Their story of how they came to live in Ballymartin is also interesting.
Victoria and Darren are both from England and lived in Bristol.
They used to holiday in Ireland because Darren’s mother is from Belfast and his father is from Toomebridge.
“We got to a point where we wanted a change, with life and careers, I was cabin crew. Property in Bristol is extortionate. We used to love coming over here to visit family. Then we started house hunting.
“Then Darren said to me one day, ‘I’ve seen a house in the Mournes’. I said: ‘Where’s the Mournes, I thought we were looking in Antrim?’
“He said that it was in County Down and we need to give it a look. The moment I drove into Dundrum that was it.
“I saw the mountains and I knew that was it.
“I nearly started crying when we were viewing the house.
“I fell in love with the Mournes. And then a baby happened so we were definitely meant to be here.”
Such was the draw of the Mournes, Darren’s parents now live in Annalong, and Victoria’s father has also moved to the area.
Darren and Victoria run a bed and breakfast.
Darren starts his trek on Friday and it will last for ten days.
On completion he plans to spend a bit more time in South America before returning home at the end of this month.
While the journey will be exciting, Victoria is preparing herself for the time away.
“I know that when he did the Himalayas he didn’t get a signal. I can go for days without hearing from him. I am pacing the bedroom. It can be really dangerous. There is altitude and sickness. But he will have a guide.
“I just have to put faith in everything.”
The trip will be testing and the challenge will be dealing with the conditions.
Victoria said: “I would say this is up there with the Himalayas in terms of the difficulty; it is to do with the altitude. It can really hit you.
“He doesn’t have the experience of the altitude. The Mournes are great for fitness but they are nowhere near as high as where he will be.
“He has done the right preparation in terms of fitness level, and he finished in the top 20 of the seven summits.
“He says himself you can do so much preparation, but something can knock you off.”
But they are confident that the trip will be a success.
All that is left now is to try to get more people to sponsor him so he can get closer to his funding target.
Currently Darren has raised just over £500 for the charity but hopes to get to £1,500.
To support the cause, see the Just Giving page – https://www.justgiving.com/page/darren-toner-1722366505150
