Brave Balbriggan cancer patient vows to fight on

THREE years ago Edel Kennedy (38) founded a local group to help fight homelessness. Now, the brave Balbriggan mum is fighting every second of every day just to be alive.

In March last year Edel presented to A&E with a blood clot in her leg and chest pain. Told that a bone scan of her sternum was clear, it was even suggested that the pain could all be in her head.

In September 2011, when 19 weeks pregnant with her son Ben, Edel’s car had been written off by another driver on the way to the cinema, causing her to suffer chronic pain, starting in her back and eventually affecting her whole body.

The following year, she finally had to quit her job in AIB bank, after 10 years, as the post-traumatic stress from the accident triggered the chronic pain condition, fibromyalgia, in Edel’s brain. 

When Edel’s chest pain worsened last year, another visit to her GP led to further CTs and a bone biopsy, which eventually confirmed cancer in her sternum. Liver cancer showed up too, and further tests in the Beaumont breast clinic confirmed a terminal diagnosis of stage 4 metastatic breast cancer.

The mum-of-three was told her cancer was too far advanced for surgery, and that it was a case of keeping her well for as long as they could, with little chance of remission.

“I told them I simply wouldn’t accept that, as I couldn’t leave my babies,” Edel says. 

The next day she started a public blog to document her cancer journey, writing down her fears and hopes. A gruelling five months later, on every medical and wellbeing intervention she could manage, Edel made it into remission.  The doctors were shocked, but warned her not to be too overjoyed, as her cancer is so widespread and aggressive that she only has an 8 per cent chance of living five more years.

Edel’s husband Bryan is her full time carer and they have some home help too. The family is trying to get a council bungalow locally, as Edel can no longer get upstairs in her house, which is torture for the brave mum, as her children are very young.

Edel and Bryan have three children – Erin (9), Ben (5) and Jake (4). Edel speaks lovingly of her little girl Holly, “who is in heaven”, having died when Edel was five months’ pregnant in February 2011.

Shortly after this loss, Bryan lost his job and, three years later, the family lost their house to the bank, and moved to Balbriggan to start afresh.

With time on their hands they started North County Outreach to help homeless people, less well off than themselves, distributing donated food, clothes and toiletries in Dublin city centre.

Even with her chronic pain and tragic prognosis, Edel and Bryan still go into town every week and feed around 300 homeless people.

“That’s something we never stopped doing, despite the big ‘C’ jumping into our lives, and we won’t stop at all, if I can help it,” Edel maintains. “There is always someone less fortunate than you are out there.”

Now Edel is determined to live life to the fullest she can. 

“I’m trying to stay positive because I believe a positive mind is a positive body,” she says. “Each day here with my babies is a blessing, so we are hoping to make some dreams come true and make some awesome memories for the family.” The family’s goal is to get to Disneyland together, before Edel’s health worsens, to create some special memories and fulfil a lifelong dream.

There is a Go-Fund-Me account called Del’s Dream, which is raising money to help the family.

“I am absolutely overwhelmed by how many people have helped me so far, friends, family and strangers,” says Edel. 

“I’ve only been given an 8 per cent chance of living for another five years, but I don’t look that far ahead.”

Edel says she has got to focus on the here and now, and on making memories with her family. “That’s why this trip to Disney is so important to us,” she adds.