Local woman’s campaign in memory of her daughter

A NORTHSIDE woman has completed an ambitious fundraising project to raise money for a charity in memory of her daughter who passed away three years ago.

Every Saturday for 50 consecutive weeks, Deirdre Kelly, from Ayrfield, went on a 20km walk to raise money for improved cystic fibrosis services at Beaumont Hospital.

Deirdre’s initiative was held as part of Cystic Fibrosis Ireland’s Beds for Beaumont Campaign.

Her daughter Lisa passed away from Cystic Fibrosis, in 2013, aged just 19.

Cystic Fibrosis Ireland is currently trying to raise €2.5 million for 12 in-patient isolation rooms at Beaumont Hospital for people with Cystic Fibrosis.

It is one of only three major centres in Ireland for adult Cystic Fibrosis (CF) care, yet at present there are only four inpatient rooms for CF patients.

Deirdre said that before Lisa passed away, her daughter was fortunate to have received a single room in St Paul’s Ward at Beaumont Hospital.   

The acute lack of in-patient isolation rooms at the hospital spurred her into taking on the walking initiative.  

Deirdre is not a novice walker having participated in mini-marathons before. However, after starting up the long series of treks initially on her own, she gathered a group of friends to help share the burden for the past 50 weeks.

“It initially started with just me doing the 20k until about seven or eight of my friends said to me: ‘ah sure, we’ll walk with you’.

“They tend to walk 10k, so we would split it up into two sections where I’d leave off with three or four people at 7.30am and we would meet another two or three people at 9am to do another 10k,” she told Northside People.

Deirdre said the group bore the brunt of all the elements on any given walk, but the idea of meeting people halfway definitely spurred the walkers during adverse weather conditions.

A total of 20km would sound like a long distance for some, but Deirdre’s inspiration to achieve her goal pushed her over the line every time.

“It isn’t hard walking 20k every week if you are personally driven. Usually I’d be quite tired after the walks and I would get a half-hour’s sleep in the afternoon and I’d use the walk as an excuse and it would be lovely,” she added.

Deirdre, a member of Cystic Fibrosis Ireland, asked family and friends to donate €2 every week to the cause during the 50-week programme. All monies raised will go towards the Beds for Beaumont Campaign.

While Deirdre’s walking initiative is now complete, she intends to continue walking for her own health benefits.

If you would like to support Deirdre’s walking initiative, you can contact her on 087-6141271 or alternatively you can make a donation through the ‘donate’ section of Cystic Fibrosis Ireland’s website, www.cfireland.ie.

REPORT: Brein McGinn