Limerick woman skates over 2,700km along the Wild Atlantic Way for mental health

A WOMAN from County Limerick has been skateboarding her way across the Wild Atlantic Way to raise money for a charity.

Becky Gilmore, who is originally from Cappamore but who now lives in Banbridge, County Down, decided to take on the challenge for The Samaritans after losing a friend to suicide.

"I just wanted to do something to process that in a healthier way and move through that grief. I thought I'd skateboard the Wild Atlantic Way because I always felt closest to him when we were by the sea and skateboarding," she said.

Becky used her skateboard as a mode of transport while in college but after suffering a head injury while travelling, she gave it up for roughly a year.

"I'd actually fallen off my board, so I spent a year not skating," she explained.

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It wasn’t until a month before she set off on her Wild Atlantic Way trip that Becky got back onto a board.

She has been making her way along the coast since early July and has met some wonderful people along the way.

"I've had such a great time connecting to people along the road and it's just been such a beautiful thing to do, to be honest. At the start, I was camping every night and just carrying my backpack with all my gear in it, and as time's gone on and as it's gotten colder, a lot more people have opened up their homes to me and businesses have offered accommodation. I'm actually being so well looked after," Becky said.

The accommodation is much appreciated, particularly with the nights getting colder.

The recent bout of bad weather also made it harder for Becky to get going, especially after camping when her gear was still wet.

The support she’s been receiving has kept her going though. "A massive part of this trip is just the community aspect of it. I've just been blown away by the support and seeing how much people want to be a part of this,” Becky said.

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"It’s so sad to see how much suicide has impacted our communities but it's incredible that people want to make such a difference and they want to be a part of a change as well, so that's been quite lovely to witness first hand," she added.

Becky says she couldn't pick just her favourite moment of kindness as there have been so many, but one that stood out to her was when two people helped her to fix her board. 

"There was one day where I was skating and it was a really tough, wet day. It had been really wet, cold weather and I'd done about 50km. At the end of the day Goblin Skate Mag had pulled up at the side of the road and it was two guys who'd come down to take some photos and videos and just support the trip. They ended up taking my skateboard into the back of their van and repairing my board on the side of the road," she explained. 

Becky appreciates the company when she gets it as the majority of the trip has been spent alone on the road or camping. 

"I like my own company as well. I think it's taken a long time working on my mental health to be in that space but I think there's something really healing and refreshing about being alone in the wild and that's been really fun but then I balance that with like meeting so many amazing people, so I think I really get a lovely variety of all of it," she explained.

Something she only recently started to have variety with though is food, as she revealed that at the beginning of the trip, she was living off of peanut butter and ramen. 

Now, businesses are reaching out to her and feeding her so she eats "anything I'm given along the way." 

While on the journey, Becky has been attempting to paint murals in every county that she passes through. 

"I've done Cork, Kerry, Clare, and Donegal and I'm probably going to finish up with the skating a little bit earlier and go back and complete one or two of the murals in Sligo and Galway because I missed some with the weather being so bad," she said.

She also visited Mayo, which is a county that particularly took her breath away as she had no expectations when going there. 

"I loved Mayo. I was really surprised because when I started the trip, nobody mentioned Mayo to me. Everyone was like, 'Oh go to Donegal, go to Galway,' but nobody ever said Mayo and when I got there, I had the best time. The people were amazing, the road surface was some of the best road surface in the whole country, and then on top of that the scenery was stunning. It was such a beautiful place, so I was really taken by surprise," Becky explained.

Her journey will come to an end this Sunday, December 14 in Portrush, County Antrim, where there will be a small event to mark the completion of the challenge.

"Everyone can come down and join for the last stretch all the way to the finish line just to raise more money for The Samaritans and to raise as much awareness as we can around suicide and mental health. Then we'll do a talk and a little recap in Kiwi's Bar afterwards, so I'm really looking forward to it," Becky said. 

After over 2,700km and almost six months on the road, she cannot wait for a few small luxuries and for Christmas at home. 

"I'm just really excited to be somewhere warm and cozy and eat a lot of food. I think I would just love a day in pyjamas watching movies all day. A really lazy day would be incredible," she said.

To support Becky in her final few days, you can donate through a link by visiting 'Becky's Art House' where more information can be found.