A hundred thousand thanks, Leo

A PATIENT of Cappagh Hospital in Finglas has raised an incredible €100,000 to show his gratitude for the treatment that helped ease years of agony.

Leo Halpin, from Oldtown, originally went to the hospital crippled with hip pain and problems with sleeping and after receiving successful hip surgery in 2005 swore he would do whatever he could to repay the hospital.

Since then he’s undertaken several charity ventures for Cappagh and recently the total money he’s raised topped €100,000.

Speaking to Northside People, Leo explained how his surgery changed his life for the better, and left him feeling so thankful.

“I was putting off getting the hip sorted, always going ‘I’ll get it done, I’ll get it done’, but I never got it done,” he said.

“Eventually I went down to get it done because I was crippled, very bad with pain, and I swore when I left that I would do something for them because they were very good to me.

“I decided that I’d do a charity walk. The first year would have been small only around 3,000 people, but the next year it jumped up to over 7,000, and after that it’s always been around nine, ten, eleven thousand people. It’s great.”

Leo has led horse and trap walks, organised local markets and held raffles, all to raise funds for the Cappagh Research & Development Trust.

This year’s walk raised over €11,000 for the Trust with more and more people wanting to get involved each and every year.

Leo says that he’s been flattered by the support of people from Oldtown, as well as neighbouring areas such as Dunshaughlin, Ashbourne and Clonalvy, and that the walks are only a success because of the support from people and local businesses.

“I live in a little rural area out here in Oldtown,” he added.

“There’s nothing really in it other than a pub. I’m a truck driver and I mix with an awful lot of people. I’ve been driving a truck now since 1960.

“When you get around a lot of the time you have no problem getting help. The longer we’ve been at it, the better it seems to be getting.

“The walk is about six kilometres and the oldest we have doing it is Charlie Rooney, who just turned 98.”

Funds raised this year will go towards funding the purchase of Navigation Assisted Systems and software for scoliosis corrective surgery. 

The new software will allow surgeons at Cappagh to undertake complex spinal surgeries safely with dramatically reduced risk, providing increasingly better outcomes for patients in reducing curvature of the spine and restoring patient height. 

The development of this service is a first for Ireland and will benefit many adolescents at Cappagh Hospital with this ailment. At a cost of €500,000, Cappagh Hospital also hopes that this development will also play a vital role in tackling existing waiting lists for spinal surgery.