Caroline Casey looked remarkably relaxed on her return from four months in India. The heat, the oppressive crowds, the chaos - it was a typical Friday morning in Dublin Airport. But the 29-year-old was basking in the achievement of an ambition.
Back in January, she left for New Delhi with her visual impairment and a dream. Yesterday she returned a qualified mahout, after steering an elephant 1,000 km across the subcontinent. It was something to declare, to say the least.
Overseas visitors in the arrivals area wondered who the movie star was, as Caroline was enveloped by family members and cameramen. Explanations only added to the confusion, because nobody had seen a film called Return of the Elephant Woman. But they might yet.
Having raised more than £200,000 for the National Council for the Blind, Sight Savers International, and the protection of the Asian elephant - she now plans to raise awareness of her overriding cause: persuading people to view disability in a positive light.
Despite her impairment, it was her feet rather than her eyes that presented most problems in India. Badly chafed by the elephant steering ropes, they were in an even worse state after a "cure" involving hot ashes caused third-degree burns, and eventually required antibiotics.
And they were still causing concern yesterday. Aware of the foot-and-mouth crisis which gripped Ireland in her absence, and mindful that the virus is widespread in India, Caroline's first appointment at the airport was with a Department of Agriculture footbath.
Work for her charity, the Aisling Project (www.theaislingproject.org), will dominate the next few months. But she plans a return to India later this summer and a reunion with Bhadra, the wilful teenage elephant on which she earned her driver's licence. It was "horrible" leaving her: "like saying goodbye to a child".
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