A SCHOOL is being built in Sierra Leone in memory of a Limerick chef who died while climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.
The heartbroken widow of James O’Connor, who died from severe altitude illness last December on his 40th birthday, described the project today as surreal and and beautiful.
Grace said a family friend who is involved in the Schools Health Foundation in Sierra Leone contacted her to say a decision was made to build the school for 300 children in memory of James.
She told PJ Coogan open Cork’s 96FM Opinion Line: “I was so blown away by this. The thought of our little son going over there for the opening of that. It is so surreal, beautiful and such an honour.
“It is going to be schooling 300 children. A whole system will be set up. It is not just building a school. It will be maintained.
“I think through the experience of the loss of James I got to see life so differently. There are amazing people out there who do amazing things. This charity is one of them. I am honoured that his legacy will be way over in Sierra Leone.”
James from Whitechurch in Co Cork, was 100m away from the summit when he collapsed and died on December 4.
And Grace told how her husband and their eldest son shared a birthday.
She said: “It was his 40th and Christopher’s 16th birthday. I had taken that day off work as James was away and I wanted to bring the kids out for dinner. So we had a lovely day out. It was just a normal day.
“I was in Next shopping and I got a phone call from James’s friend Alan who had done the trek with him. I heard his voice and I thought they had done it as they were meant to be at the summit.
“James wanted to be at the summit for his 40th. This was a goal he had and I was happy to support him in it.
“Alan said ‘Grace I don’t know how to tell you this. Jimmy is dead’. He told me first he had a heart attack.
I couldn’t believe it. I fell to my knees. My little girl was with me. It was so surreal. It still is some days.”
Grace said James was very active, fit and healthy.
She explained: “You have to get all of these checks done before you go. He was super fit. He was always out running. He used to get up at 5am.
‘HE WAS AT HIS HEALTHIEST & HAPPIEST’
“I am from Limerick. We live in Limerick. He would hit the road for Cork (where he worked at Tony’s Bistro).
“He would hit the gym before work. And then go in, do a full day’s work and drive home. On his day off he would get up, have his run done and wake me up with a cup of coffee before I’d get out of bed.
“He even got me out running a few times. He felt great. He was at his healthiest and happiness. Basically (he died) of altitude sickness. It affected his lungs and he was unlucky. That is it.
“The majority of people are fine. You couldn’t have predicted it. It (climbing Kilimanjaro) is not a dangerous thing to do. There is no way he would have even attempted to do it if he thought he was in any danger.”
THOUSANDS RAISED
Grace said that she has kept herself busy in the months since James died.
She continues to live in Dooradoyle in Limerick with the couple’s children Chris, Lilly and James.
Close to €39,000 was raised via a GoFundMe page set up to pay for the repatriation of his body back to Ireland.
James is survived by his wife and children, his siblings Jonathan, Lorraine, Caitriona, Michelle and Jordan.
His family say that James died “peacefully, while watching the sunrise on his birthday on Mount Kilimanjaro.”
The James O’Connor primary school in Sierra Leone is set to open next April. His eldest son Chris will be at the official opening.
Donations can be made to the James O’Connor primary school project with a note in the comments to the effect of “James O’Connor school” or on the FUNDRAISER FOR THE JAMES O’CONNOR PRIMARY SCHOOL website.
