John Quinn of Castlebar, Co. Mayo, who had been living in Strasbourg, died in a tragic hiking accident in the Vosges mountains in Alsace on the 12th May 2018.
John had been leading a group of eight hikers on a 2-day trek when the accident happened, he lost his footing and fell. John’s wife Mary, their three children Darragh, Fionnuala and Nicholas and his friends set up a Mountain Rescue fund to raise money for the local mountain rescue service, Peloton de Gendarmerie de Montagne Hohrod in France, who recovered John within an hour of his fall and to also raise money for the Mayo Mountain Rescue Team.
Last Tuesday, 21 st August, Mary, Darragh, Fionnuala and Nicholas visited the Mayo Mountain Rescue Team, in the team’s HQ in Westport, to present a donation of €4,800 which John’s family and friends raised in his memory.
Colm Byrne, (Chairman) spoke on behalf of the team extending our condolences to Mary and all the family and friends on the loss of John and the gratitude of the team for raising this significant donation.
It was evident from speaking with John’s family and friends that John had a great positive influence on bringing people together in Strasbourg who may not have ordinarily met each other but ended up being great friends. His hiking group in Strasbourg grew to a community of 80 people on his email list who would take part in his weekly hiking trips. John took great care as group leader in the preparation of his hiking trips; providing the hike details, location, weather forecast, essential equipment and checklist to the participants well in advance which made his hiking trips so well organised and enjoyable.
His loss struck a chord with the Mayo Mountain Rescue Team. His walking community were made up of people like those in the Mayo Mountain Rescue Team itself, people from all different walks of life with the same enjoyment of the outdoors.
Mayo Mountain Rescue Team gratefully accept this donation from the Quinn family and will use it to buy new equipment for the team. John will be remembered by the team when we help others just as he helped bring people together through his enjoyment of hillwalking.
Cameron Clotworthy
Public Relations Officer, MMRT
Tel: 085 1253435 Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
