West Kerry hill-sheep farmer James O’Connor took on an arduous 24-hour shearing challenge this weekend to raise funds for his sister Mary Lynch’s cancer treatment.
Mary (43) from Cloghane, has spent the past year undergoing treatment for what is said to be an aggressive form of breast cancer, Invasive Ductal Carcinoma or triple-negative breast cancer.
Her treatment has included a gruelling 20 weeks of chemotherapy, a mastectomy, and lymph node axillary clearance and radiotherapy.
Sadly, despite the extensive treatment, she was told that a scan showed that the cancer had spread and was now also in her lungs.
The Kerry woman and her husband Donal have two children, Padraig (7) and Eadaoin (3). She was given a life expectancy of two years and was told that the only option was to try to contain the cancer for as long as possible.
She has travelled to the Royal Marsden Hospital in London and to Germany for treatment while also undergoing further treatment in Cork University Hospital.
To help defray the costs associated with Mary’s treatment, James, who has praised his sister’s bravery and strength of character, organised the 24-hour sheep shearing event to gather funds alongside a GoFundMe campaign which has raised over €88,000 to date.
The shearing took place in a marquee at O’Connor’s bar and guesthouse with live music, a barbecue, children’s activities and an auction.
James, who does a lot of travelling for his contract shearing work, especially around the midlands, started shearing at 6:00p.m yesterday (Friday, July 7) and finished up at 6:00a.m this morning (Saturday, July 8).
Some of the sheep are his own, while others are owned by neighbours who, he said, have been very supportive.
He sheared for two hours at a time, with half-hour breaks.
“I haven’t done anything as enormous as this before. A lot of work and training has gone into it, including gym work and cycling,” he said.
“I want to do everything I can for my sister. I can’t do anything medically so I decided to use my shearing skills for this fundraiser.”