TOM O’KEEFFE ULTRA MARATHON FUNDRAISING FOR I.C.U. & LIVER UNIT

Tom O’Keeffe, who lives in Cheshire in England, recently organised an ingenious series of activities to raise funds for The Intensive Care and Liver Units in St. Vincent’s. Tom was doing this in memory of his beloved cousin, Olivia, who died in St. Vincent’s in December 2021. Tom ran an Ultramarathon to coincide with the 2nd anniversary of Olivia’s death. Tom’s ultimate commitment was to run 1 Km for every £100 donated by the anniversary date. Given the phenomenal response of over £9,000 donated by that time, Tom ran 90.3 Km in 12 hours and 10 minutes of “moving time”. This feat of endurance is difficult for most of us to comprehend.

Tom supplemented this major undertaking by adopting other challenges during the six months of fundraising from July to December. These included swimming 5 marathons in 5 days and completing the “David Goggins 4/4/48 Challenge”(where he ran 4 miles every 4 hours for 48 hours).

Subsequent to these super-human endeavours, Tom received further donations, ultimately raising £15,213.66 (€17,380.16). €11,423.11 was donated to I.C.U. and €5,957.05 to the Liver Unit.

Tom came from England and with some of the O’Keeffe family to presented the final proceeds. We are so grateful for this supreme contribution as well as being in awe of his achievements.

Pictured presenting the fundraising proceeds to John Hickey, St. Vincent’s Foundation are members of the O’Keeffe family as follows

Bingo Night in Arklow Bay Hotel, 25/11/2023 & St. Stephen’s Day Charity Swim 2023 in Memory of Eamon Burke R.I.P. fundraising for the Liver Unit

We have previously highlighted the phenomenal fundraising of Eamon & Mary Burke and their family for the Liver Unit. We also carried a feature on Eamon’s death in April 2023, acknowledging the wonderful friendship he has shown to St. Vincent’s over so many years.

Continuing the generosity that Eamon & Mary have always demonstrated, the family organised the annual St. Stephen’s Day Swim and in addition held a Bingo Night in November. Through all these efforts they raised €14,100 for St. Vincent’s Liver Unit. This brings to almost €85,000 the cumulative sum contributed to the Unit.

On a very poignant visit to the hospital Mary and her family were photographed presenting the outcome, which was a record fundraising achievement for them in any one year. Our sincere thanks to the family and to all their supporters.

Pictured presenting the fundraising proceeds to John Hickey, St. Vincent’s Foundation are from L.to R. Dean Dickenson, Clive Burke, Mary Wood, Mary Burke & David Burke.

Climbs4Kevin and In Memory donations and fundraising in memory of Kevin Coleman RIP for Sarcoma Research & Awareness

We report on the response of an amazing family to the tragic death of a much loved man. Sadly, in July 2022, aged 29, Kevin Coleman was diagnosed with Sarcoma, a rare form of cancer. He underwent radiotherapy, surgery and chemotherapy in subsequent months, in St. Vincent’s. Unfortunately, the cancer spread and Kevin passed away 12 months after his diagnosis, on 14th July 2023, just over a week after his 30th birthday and 24 hours after his wedding to Megan Conlon, his long-term partner.

The incredible response of the family was to put their energy to making a difference to other people who encounter this terrible situation. They requested donations in lieu of flowers at Kevin’s funeral to which there was an unprecedented response. Their local GAA Club nominated the Kevin Coleman fundraising to benefit from their 2023 event of their annual “Riverstown Road to Sam”. A series of GAA competitions, table quizzes, and auctions together raised €3,350 for this great cause.  In total these activities raised the outstanding sum of €10,269 for Sarcoma Research & Awareness but the best was yet to come!

Hiking and climbing and other outdoor activities played an important part in Kevin’s life. He took on one of the biggest peaks in 2011, completing Kilimanjaro for charity aged just 18. Motivated by this background Kevin’s family and supporters established the Climbs4Kevin Challenge. Over two days – 12th & 13th July 2024 his family members and friends climbed a peak in each of the four Irish Provinces.

This gruelling challenge raised an unbelievable total of €72,600. This means that all these endeavours together contributed almost €83,000 to Sarcoma Research & Awareness.