Hi! I need your help. I'm taking part in the 2023 Vhi Women's Mini Marathon to raise money for the Irish Cancer Society, who do great work for a cause that's very close to my heart.

As anyone close to me knows, I lost my wonderful mother, Regina Finn, to metastatic bladder cancer on the 13th of September 2022, aged just 57, after a very short and intense 3 month illness which mam fought with courage and dignity.

Mam & I were the best of friends and shared a lot of the same interests in hiking, cooking, gardening and wandering or “pottering” as she would say. Mams favourite thing to do at the weekends was to go for a walk in Lough Key Forest Park admiring the natural beauty around her or go for a brisk sea stroll in Strandhill followed by an Ice Cream or coffee. Sundays were always for roasts - nothing could compare to mams roasts with all the trimmings. You’d find mam concocting her seasonings from her herbs she grew and picking flowers from her so cared for gardens. Coincidentally, mam loved Daffodils and often admired the footpath to the house which was lined with the biggest, yellowest flowers year after year. Mam was a lady of simple pleasures who prioritised spending quality time with her family over (almost!) everything else. 

Mams Cancer journey initially began in February 2020 where she was diagnosed with abnormal, then pre cancerous, then cancerous cells which led her to getting an official metastatic diagnosis in June 2022 (after two carcinoma diagnoses in July & November 2021). Her oncologist told her she had “horrid rotten luck” to receive such a diagnosis when she had been “so on top of it for the past couple of years” - as a family we struggled with so much of the care mam received (or didn’t, as the case may be). As a result, mam and my family relied heavily on the Irish Cancer Society’s website for information on her diagnosis, treatment plan, information about chemotherapy and coping with treatment, and information on how to support mam and each other with mams illness. I also benefitted from speaking to the Irish Cancer Society’s Counselling Services following mams passing, as I struggled with the grief and trauma I experienced having been with mam through her toughest moments from her metastatic diagnosis in June, her chemo in July, her 6 weeks in hospital from August to her passing in September - trying to be an advocate for mams best interests, rights and care. 

Without the Irish Cancer Society and their resources and services, we couldn’t have coped. As all of us, unfortunately, will be impacted by cancer at some point in our lives (whether that’s directly, or indirectly), I want to raise funds to ensure that the support my family received from the Irish Cancer Society continues to be available to others and to further Cancer Research in the hope that a cure can be found in our lifetime. 

Anyone who knew my mam knew she was the most selfless, helpful and caring person and while she wouldn’t appreciate my efforts in running for fear of hurting myself, she would appreciate the efforts in raising funds for a charity so close to our hearts. So please, if you can help me at all, any donation small or large will be very much appreciated. 

Thank you,
Sinéad