Louise climbs the Stairway to Heaven to raise money for charity in memory of her dad

Gerald sadly passed away suddenly on September 15, 2023 whilst at a funeral in Ronnie Thompsons in Lisburn.

"My dad was a well known man who had loads of friends here in Lisburn and also in Stewartstown, Dungannon, where he had been living for the past three years with his partner Bernie,” explained Louise.

"My dad had been quite sick in the summer of 2023 and spent eight weeks in Craigavon Hospital.

"When he was discharged we thought he was improving and getting better, little did we know that 19 days later his heart would fail.

“We later found out that he had been in the final stages of heart failure and hadn't told me or his partner and had just got on with the time he had left.”

Louise and her family decided they wanted to do something in Gerald’s memory.

"My cousin Vivien and I just randomly decided one evening that we should do something on his first anniversary away from home, so we decided to walk the stairway to heaven,” she explained.

"By the time we had reached our finish point we had completed 20,000 steps and 85 flights of stairs.

“I had a team with me to be able to complete. It was hard but we managed it, and my dad's granddaughter and his great niece who are only 11 and 12 completed it as well.”

Louise opened a Just Giving page, where people have been donating online.

There have also been donation boxes in local shops and so far the total raised is over £500, much to the delight of Louise.

The justgiving page is still open and anyone who would like to donate can visit https://www.justgiving.com/page/louise-galloway-1724754787586

“So far in total we have raised £560 via our just giving page and also a few donation boxes which were placed in Hillhall, Ballymacash, the Quirky Bird cafe in Moira and a chippy in Ballinderry.

"If it wasn't for the customers I wouldn't have raised so much. so thank you,” Louise added.