'We hope we have half his bravery' - Irish sisters to climb Kilimanjaro in honour of late father

Two Irish sisters are preparing to climb one of the world's tallest mountains on Sunday to honour of their late father, who made the climb himself 20 years ago.

Conor O'Duffy climbed Kilimanjaro in 2003 died from cancer 20 years ago.

Sarah and Jennifer O'Duffy are following in their father’s footsteps by climbing Mount Kilimanjaro – and are raising money in aid of oesophageal cancer.

Their father Conor died from oesophageal cancer 20 years ago, but before he did he managed to climb Kilimanjaro and raise thousands of euro for charity, even with his cancer spreading to his spine at the time. 

The sisters have been planning a climb in his honour for several years, and will be raising money for the Oesophageal Cancer Fund, a charity which Sarah and Jennifer say is "one that is close to our hearts".

In a touching post on Instagram, the sisters explained the decision for the Kilimanjaro climb, saying it "stemmed from our own dad’s journey to the summit in 2003, in aid of the National Children’s Hospital, Dublin, while he was simultaneously battling cancer. We will be climbing on the year that marks his 20th anniversary".

"We are so incredibly proud of what he was able to accomplish and hope we have half his bravery and stamina come June," Sarah and Jennifer added.

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So far, the sisters have raised over €28,000 through their idonate fundraiser.

Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast on Friday, Jennifer said they had lost their dad "when I was seven and my younger sister Sarah was four".

“This whole experience, to be honest, has given us the opportunity to really sit down and relive a lot of memories with him and look through old photographs. In doing that we've just been discussing how amazing he truly was and even his achievement in climbing Kilimanjaro just proves that.”