WE ARE extremely proud of the many heroic and brave achievements of our son and brother Gerard.
He brought honour not only to us his family, but the whole country when he became the first Irish man to summit K2 on Friday last.
The last few days have been a roller coaster of emotions as we celebrated with joy his historic achievement, and now must try to come to terms with the untimely loss of a great son, brother and friend.
Gerard's love of mountain climbing was surpassed only by his love for his family and friends.
Our thoughts are with his long-time girlfriend Annie in his adopted home of Alaska, where he lived for the last 11 years. We are sure that like us, Annie will miss most of all Gerard's warm and caring smile that brought light and joy to all he met.
Gerard was a kind and loving son. He had a great love of traditional Irish music, and despite living away from Limerick for the past number of years he was a true and proud Irish man. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our many friends and neighbours for their support at this sad time.
We would like to acknowledge the bravery and selfless acts of his Norit teammates and the members of all the other teams who risked everything in an attempt to rescue Gerard.
We will forever be grateful to them, and the support and information we received from Maarten van Eck - the web master for the Norit expedition.
Thanks also to Pat Falvey for his hard work and perseverance in keeping the line of communications between base camp and the family open.
We would like to sympathise with the many other families who lost loved ones to the unforgiving elements of K2 this weekend. Our thoughts and prayers are with them.
We now ask for privacy from the media as we come to terms with the news that our beloved Gerard will not be returning home. We will not be making any more statements at this sad time and thank you for your co-operation.
Gerard (37) is survived by his mother Gertie, brother JJ, sisters Martha, Stephanie and Denise, his girlfriend Annie and extended family. He was predeceased by his father, Denis.