*James, Kaitlyn, Jaime and Bobby Ferns.
ENNIS’ Ferns family finished as third place finalists in the twelfth series of Ireland’s Fittest Family.
By Kaitlyn Ferns
After nine months of waiting, the Ferns family can finally share all the details of their experience and their final outcome. In this exclusive for The Clare Echo, Kaitlyn, the eldest of the Ferns children shared her memories and highlights of the competition.
Ireland’s Fittest Family was one of the best experiences of my life so far. Thinking back to when myself and my family found out we made it through to the final sixteen, I can’t help but feel so proud of how far each of us have come since then.
Along the way, we have each experienced things outside our comfort zones, faced our fears and had great craic amongst it all. I am so incredibly proud of my Dad, Bobby and Jaime for all of the hard work and dedication they each put into everything they did. Still to this day, we talk about how unbelievably proud we are of Jaime for facing her fear of water and going up on that bar in hang tough.
She truly is an inspiration to people and she showed that you can do anything you put your mind to. She also got to show the country her infectious personality with her brilliant one liners.
We have made unbelievable memories together as a family and I will always look back on this time so fondly. The memories of driving up to our hotel the night before, talking about what events we may face in the morning and re-watching previous seasons of the show in the hotel room because we were just so excited, will always stick out to me.
I am forever grateful for this unique opportunity to bond with and spend time with my family, there really is nothing like it.
The show was filmed over the course of the summer and we were on the road the whole time (not a bad complaint!) so that meant we had to leave our Mom at home with the dog a few times but she was incredibly supportive throughout the whole thing and was our rock. She was always there to come home to and we couldn’t wait to give her a big hug and tell her everything we experienced when we got home.
Reflecting on our involvement in Ireland’s Fittest Family, my Dad James said, “From my Ireland’s Fittest Family journey, I will take the amazing memories that I had with my three incredible, amazing kids. I will treasure them for the rest of my life and I am so grateful beyond words”.
For Bobby, “Ireland’s Fittest Family was one of the best things I ever did, I would recommend it to any family to do together, not just for the fitness side but for all the amazing memories you make with your family”.
Jaime recalled, “Ireland’s Fittest Family was a journey I always faced with my bravest face. For each event, I always made sure to push myself to my limit to try to make my family proud. I was so happy to meet my new bestie Davy and get him to help me with everything. This journey was incredible and I can’t wait to do it again”.
It truly was an unforgettable experience and to come third place is unreal. We made the podium. You never know, we might give it another whirl someday and bring it home for Clare.
