Caoimhe’s amazing angels

A TEAM of 150 angels took to the streets for the VHI Mini-Marathon on June Bank Holiday Monday in memory of a Northside student who passed away this year after a lifelong battle with cystic fibrosis.

Finglas based ‘Caoimhe’s Angels’ took part in the event to raise funds and awareness for cystic fibrosis (CF), and also to commemorate the life of their friend, niece and daughter Caoimhe Walsh. 

Caoimhe was a sixth year student at St Michael’s Holy Faith Secondary School in Finglas, and was supposed to be sitting for her Leaving Certificate this week.

Sadly, she passed away in early February, despite having a successful double lung transplant just three years earlier.

Her passing came as a surprise to those close to her, and while they’ve suffered unimaginable grief, the reaction from friends and family has also been overwhelmingly positive.

“She was three years post-op so it kind of knocked us all for six when it happened because it came out of the blue,” Caoimhe’s aunt, Alice Walsh, told Northside People.

“We wanted to set up ‘Caoimhe’s Angels’ for the marathon and then it grew from there and people came on board and it was fantastic.

“It was mostly just family and friends, and then it was also people who had seen the page and wanted to get involved.

“Perhaps they had somebody in their family who had CF, or knew a friend who had CF. Cystic Fibrosis is just one of those things where people don’t look sick all the time, so when they had heard that Caoimhe had passed away, they just wanted to get in touch and do the marathon with us.”

Caoimhe’s Angels was a project that took months of organising and planning with Caoimhe’s aunt Alice, her grandfather Andy Leggett and her mother Roisin Leggett all playing pivotal roles in its creation.

The group rose over €2,800 on an everydayhero.ie page, while they also received €1,000 from TV3 and €2,000 from WorkWearExperts who are based out of Bluebell.

According to Alice, the group couldn’t have raised as much money as it did if it wasn’t for the work of Andy and Roisin.

“Caoimhe had touched so many lives and that has become apparent through people who got in contact with us, even just to wish us well, and people who donated and people we didn’t even know,” she said.

“Caoimhe’s grandmother had passed away in November and then her mother lost Caoimhe in February, just four months apart so it’s been horrendous. 

“Roisin is one of the most amazing women I know and she’s been Trojan throughout Caoimhe’s Angels. It was amazing and overwhelming to see the support and people coming together just to try and be there for her and it just goes to show how amazing Caoimhe actually was.”

Cystic Fibrosis Ireland had one of the largest charity contingents at this year’s Dublin Mini-Marathon with over 1,000 people taking part in this year’s race, including ‘Caoimhe’s Angels’.

Roisin said she was overwhelmed with the support she received from friends, family, old school mates and Caoimhe’s school who rose over €2,000 for Cystic Fibrosis in April.

Roisin also said that Caoimhe’s friends will be doing a skydive on Caoimhe’s birthday in August to raise funds and if anyone would like to donate they can do so at www.cfireland.ie/donate.

REPORT: JACK O’TOOLE