A CAMPAIGN that is aiming to raise €75,000 to fund revolutionary treatment for a local woman who has Multiple Sclerosis (MS) has taken another step forward, quite literally.
Stephanie Byrne and Treasa Kelly, from Raheny, will run the Dublin Marathon under the banner of Team Dee on Sunday, October 30 to help their friend Deirdre McGarry.
The past pupils of Manor House Secondary School, Raheny, will be supporting Deirdre, a current teacher at the school, who is planning to travel to Russia for a stem cell transplant to help her beat the condition.
In 2013, Deirdre, from Raheny, the mother-of-two young daughters, was diagnosed with MS.
As reported in Northside People earlier this year, Deirdre has since been accepted for stem cell transplant in Russia which she hopes will take place in 2017, under the guidance of Dr Denis Fedorenko.
A number of fundraising events have taken place in the community and Deirdre’s friends now have the marathon in their sights.
According to Deirdre, Stephanie had no intention of doing the marathon. However, when she met Deirdre, who teaches her daughter Cliona at Manor House Secondary School, she was so impressed by her determination and courage to change her diagnosis and her commitment to her children, that she decided she would run for Team Dee.
This is not Stephanie’s first marathon, though. She ran the Dublin City Marathon in 2007. Since that race she has run in all the Abbott World Marathon Majors, a championship-style competition for elite marathon runners that started in 2006.
The series consists of Tokyo, London, Boston, Berlin, Chicago and New York, the locations of the six largest and most renowned marathons in the world. Abbott commends all amateur runners who have completed the six marathons with a certificate and a medal.
The runners name their country’s flag and their completion times of each of the six races are uploaded onto their ‘Wall of Fame’ where they are known as Six Star Finishers. There are currently 22 Irish men and women who are Six Star Finishers. Stephanie is currently one of seven Irish women to have completed the series of which she is very proud.
This marathon will be different for Stephanie though as she is not running for herself; she is running for Deirdre, because she can’t.
Treasa meanwhile, has been friends with Deirdre for over 30 years. When Deirdre was diagnosed with MS it was terrifying for her. However, since then she has been full of admiration for how “strong and brave” Deirdre has handled her health difficulties.
Treasa wanted to do something special for her friend and always admired people like Stephanie for their physical and mental ability to run 26.2 miles.
She decided Deirdre would be her motivation to do something she doesn’t exactly enjoy doing, but now running has a purpose and she can’t wait for the big day.
Treasa completed the Frank Duffy 10-mile in August and will be taking part in the Dublin Half Marathon in the Phoenix Park on September 24 in preparation for the big event on October 30.
Training for the full marathon takes at least 18 weeks, and this is where the true test of character becomes challenged.
Both girls are 100 per cent committed to starting and finishing the Dublin Marathon for Team Dee and would greatly appreciate any support you can give the team.
This is just one step in getting Deirdre to Russia in the hope of beating MS for good. For more information, email deirdremg@gmail.com