‘I did it for dad’

TRIBUTE Belturbet man raises almost €3K for Cavan Oncology in memory of his late father

A young Cavan man has raised almost €3,000 in memory of his late father to benefit other local cancer patients after walking 100 kilometres in just 20 days.

The feat is all the more incredible given that Darragh O’Rourke (32) completed the distance while wearing an A4 brace on his leg.

The Belturbet native suffered life-changing injuries when he fell from his bike aged just nine years.

He has since undergone 24 operations, starting with emergency surgery to help reduce the pressure caused by swelling to his brain immediately after the accident.

Darragh was placed on life-support following the fall, which occurred when he was cycling home from visiting his mum Bernie who was working in town at the time.

“I took two strokes during the first [operation], and after 12 or 13 days, when I still wasn’t responding, the doctors suggested taking me off life-support. They told my parents there was about a 10 to 15% chance coming out of the next operation, and that I might be left brain dead.”

But it was his dad, Terry, who stepped in first, bravely telling doctors he had faith his stricken son would eventually pull through.

Terry sadly passed away June 20, 2019, following his own battle with illness bravely borne.

A difficult road

Aside from the life-saving surgery immediately after his accident, Darragh has endured a punishing set of medical interventions down through the years, from all-out bone and tendon reconstruction to joint reconnection and alignment.

It’s been a difficult road to travel, Darragh attests.

“Mum and dad were always there for me, all the way, all the time.

Only for them pair keeping me on the straight and narrow after the accident... They were there when I needed them, so it was important I was there, we all were, the whole family, when dad was near passing.”

The 100km walk/jog was the first time Darragh had ever attempted any sort of charitable fundraising exercise. He set the bar, he felt, at what he believed would be an achievable amount, hoping to raise perhaps €500 by the end.

The walk was completed around Belturbet, on different routes, and each day Darragh would log his progress and post the result online before adding it to the previous day’s total and sharing it on social media. He started the walk on March 4 and finished in time for his dad Terry’s birthday on March 23 when he then poured and shared a pint of “the black stuff” in a touching tribute at his dad’s graveside.

The response was as incredible if not more so than the effort it took Darragh to complete the distance.

Blisters, cuts and bruises “all worth it in the end” says Darragh, who describes it as “mind boggling” once the final donation tally came in - €2,940.

Friends of Cavan Oncology is a charity that supports the Oncology Unit at Cavan General Hospital, and their fundraising is used to make patients lives a little easier while undergoing cancer treatments.

“He was sick for about a year and a half before he died,” says Darragh of his dad Terry. “I have to say, the people he met, and those who cared for him at the Cavan Oncology Unit are incredible people, every one of them.”

He adds: “I still can’t believe seeing those numbers creep up. I’m delighted, the family are proud of me too, and I hope dad is as well.

The Oncology Department in Cavan are over the moon as well and I hope the money will help as many families as possible in the same way they helped ours.”