Mayo native to cycle entire Irish coast for Motor Neuron Disease

Castlebar native Jerry Twomey is undertaking a charity cycle around Ireland to raise funds and awareness for Motor Neuron Disease and to remember his Dad.

Jerry has seen first hand the brilliant work the Irish Motor Neuron Disease Association (IMNDA) does when his dad required a hoist for his care. 

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“With motor neuron disease, you slowly start losing all your different functions and abilities, and motor skills. My dad was a big man. He was six foot three and 17 stone.”

The IMNDA were initially unable to help because of funding shortfalls and so the family were in the process of seeking to rent one or borrow one when “a couple of days later, while we still haven't solved the problem, the IMNDA rang us and said that somebody somewhere had done some fundraising, and the hoist was on its way.”

Jerry’s father, John, lost his fight to MND on January 18, 2010, and since then, Jerry has raised over €60,000, or the equivalent of six hoists for the IMNDA. 

His latest fundraising effort is to cycle around the Irish coast and his next leg will start in Newport this coming Saturday at 10 am. Jerry will set off from the Michael Staines memorial statue. 

He is reaching out to everyone in the Motor Neuron Disease family, and also sports clubs, cycling clubs, and social groups to join him along the way – everyone is welcome. “With company, the cycling feels half as long and twice as easy,” he adds. “I would be delighted to hook up and chat with people wherever they are. Just get in touch and I will do my best to be there.”

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For Jerry, “the most uplifting part has been meeting motor neurone disease patients and their families who come out whenever I do these events. And motor neurone disease is a progressive disease. There's no known cure. They don't even know what caused it, so there's no known cure.

"So you just meeting these people who have been given this terrible diagnosis, and they're just surrounded by the love of their families and supporters, and it's just incredible to witness every time, just how much it drives people together, and the closeness and what it brings out of people, both as sufferers and those affected by it.”

To donate directly to the IMNDA, please go to https://www.idonate.ie/challengeforMND

For more info, or to follow the run, check out the below social media links.