Derek Davidson (in the Mayo jersey) and his son Matthew, on the left, display the Mayo flag at the Mount Everest base camp.

Lahardane father and son tackle Everest to help in quest for 'Sam'

MAYO GAA fans turn up everywhere – even Mount Everest! A father and son team have just climbed the highest mountain in the world in a quest to bring good luck to their beloved county team and raise much-needed funds for the Irish Cancer Society.

Derek Davidson and his 18-year-old son Matthew spent 18 days climbing 18,000 feet to reach the Everest base camp, in temperatures as low as -30 degrees, to fulfil one of their lifetime ambitions.

The Mayo GAA fans, whom come from Lahardane, brought along their county flag and had it blessed in private in a Buddhist temple before carrying it all the way to the Everest base camp.

The question is: why? “We expect our Mayo GAA heroes to climb the highest mountain in the world every season in their quest to bring the Sam Maguire home, so we thought we would have ago ourselves to bring some good luck to the lads,” said Derek.

“It has been an expedition of a lifetime,” he added. “I have been training with my son on the Nephin mountain range in Lahardane, where we live, all through the winter, and it has certainly paid off.”

Tony Hennigan from Mayo Manchester said: “What a fantastic achievement for a great charity. They have raised over €3,887 for the Irish Cancer Society so far and have also set up a 'just giving' page to help raise some extra funds for the charity. It would be great to see the total reach €5,000 for such an epic journey.”

If you would like to donate, log on to https://give.everydayhero.com/ie/everest-base-camp-trek.