Mullingar man John McAnaney made it home safely from earthquake-hit Nepal at the weekend. The intrepid D’Alton Park man was close to Base Camp at Mount Everest when the devastating earthquake hit, and he was glad to be on terra firma in Mullingar where he was reunited with his family on Saturday morning.
John told Topic he was relieved to be home, and said it was slightly surreal to be back at work at Woodie’s in Lakepoint Park just a week after the most dangerous trip of his life.
“This day last week I was a couple of thousand feet up a mountain drinking tea when the building I was in shook from side to side, that was the start of it,” he said, recalling the moment the killer quake struck the village of Lobouche where he and a gang of fellow trekkers were preparing to go further up Everest. Everyone in the building ran out bar John, who said the quake rocked him left-to-right several times, spilling the tea in his hand. When he did get outside he soon knew what had happened.
“The corner fell off the side of the building next door, right beside us. As we walked down the road, there were cracks on the ground and huge boulders on the road.”
SAVED
Had it been a day later, John reckons he would not be here today to tell the story. He was due to travel to Base Camp, but he stayed in Lobouche.
Base Camp was destroyed with hundreds of climbers and trekkers among the many people killed. John says he met people coming back down from Base Camp who had seen friends and local guides swept away by avalanches. There was little he or other trekkers could do, so they decided to head back down the mountain, towards Lukla.
An experienced trekker who has travelled extensively in Asia, South America and Africa, John said the trek down was fraught with danger. Large sections of road had literally fallen down the mountain, whilst huge boulders blocked other sections. He ended up trekking through woodland to get down to the Tenzing-Hillary Airport in Lukla, rated as the world’s most dangerous. “It’s dangerous at the best of times, so imagine it after an earthquake,” said John.
He spent a number of days there waiting for a flight to take him back to Kathmandu, a city he had visited only days earlier. “It was a totally different place when we got back,” he recalled. “Everything was destroyed or closed and there was this eerie silence about the place. It was total annihilation there really. Everything was in short supply and we couldn’t really help the rescue missions. We were told to go to the airport.”
Chaos at the airport was not as bad as had been reported and luckily, John and other Irish trekkers got out relatively quickly.
RETURN
John says he would love to return to the country again. He has been there three times and the region he most wanted to see was flattened. He would like to see if it can be rebuilt, and urged local people to assist the rebuilding and relief efforts. The popular Mullingar man was out and about in the town on Saturday and Sunday night where plenty of pals were keen to hear of his exploits on Everest. He said it was odd being out after his experience, particularly without his late father, Anthony, by his side for a pint or two. Tony passed away in February of this year, and John says he was definitely looking down on him to have delayed him going to Base Camp last Monday. John’s mother Pauline was delighted to have him home, as were his sisters, Anna and Sandra.
It was “back to the grind stone” at Woodie’s on Tuesday, dealing with customers and hardware, and John says he is already saving for his next trip abroad. However, he said he may pick “a relatively safe destination” next time, with America or Canada mentioned.
LOCAL APPEALS
Meanwhile, local appeals at the Oxfam and Brian’s Treasure Chest charity shops in Mullingar are continuing this week as the death toll nears 8,000.
Brian Fagan said that all proceeds from the sale of goods in his Castle Street shop for the entire month of May will go towards the relief fund. He said donations can also be made at the shop, whether they are in euro or even foreign exchange or old punts. Oxfam on Oliver Plunkett Street are also accepting donations, and they are also donating proceeds of their sales to their Nepal appeal.