‘That's when panic set in' – Watch camogie ace & gold medallist's scary cliff moment on Death Road in RTE's Uncharted

The Irish Sun

27-05-2025

ASHLING Thompson and Ellen Keane are this week's "guests" on RTE's Uncharted With Ray Goggins.
The
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Ray Goggins is an Irish special forces veteran
Credit: RTE Press Office Issue
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The Paralympic legend and Cork camogie star joined him on this adventure
Credit: RTE Press Office Issue
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Keane retired from the pool after last summer's Paralympic Games in Paris
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Thompson is still an integral player for the defending All-Ireland champions
Last week saw Irish language hip-hop duo Kneecap embark on an Arctic expedition while the series' opening episode showed
This Wednesday it is the turn of a pair of sporting stars and while they no doubt would've possessed the physical capacity for their epic quest there were moment where their resolve was tested.
RTE set them out on a path down Bolivia's notorious Death Road with one moment in particular leaving the Cork star literally frightened for her life.
As they drove down what's well-known to be the most dangerous road on the planet, they came across an abandoned van.
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With the only other option being to sit tight for hours until help arrived to repair it, Goggins instead convinced them to squeeze past - despite it being a massive drop if they did slide off the cliff face.
Thompson can be heard reflecting on that scary instance as she acts as the show's narrator back in the here and now.
The six-time All-Ireland winner underlined: "We only had the width of the jeep to get by. So that's when the panic set in."
Not only did they have to traverse the arduous road portion but they also ended up having to hike through almost 100km of dense cloud forest and cross raging rivers.
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Upon meeting them in the South American country, Ray warned: "We are going to negotiate some of the worst and most dangerous terrain on the planet.
"It's going to be hardcore, you are going to be at altitude so it's not going to be for the faint-hearted.
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"It will be hellish at times."
Ellen recalled how she had to be adaptable in order to follow Goggins' lead given her disability.
Using the example of how she approached a makeshift wire bridge over a powerful river, she explained: "I had to figure out how to get across a little differently to everyone else.
"Ray was not offering help too soon which was really reassuring to me because it meant that he believed I could do it.
"When you are a person with a disability, everyone always expects you not to be able to do something or to always need help, and I don't like that narrative.
"I can do anything that Ashling does, I just have to do it a little differently.
"I think that's a really important lesson for people to learn that it doesn't matter how something is done, as long as it is done at the end of the day, that's the most important thing."
You can watch the episode in full on RTE One at 9:35pm on Wednesday May 28.