Cong house sale to raise funds for CF unit

Cong house sale to raise funds for CF unit


Ciara Galvin

A MOTHER has described her uncle as an ‘incredibly generous man’ after he left his home in Drumshiel, Cong, to her, so she could sell it to help fund a new paediatric facility for cystic fibrosis patients.
Before passing away on December 6, 2011, Andy Brown told his niece Marian Keane from Maam that he was giving his Cong home to her to sell in order to raise the much-needed funds for a new cystic fibrosis outpatient unit at University College Hospital Galway.
Marian’s daughter Stephanie tragically lost her fight with cystic fibrosis on June 28, 2009, at the age of 14, while her brother Thomas died on November 22, 2002, just shy of his third birthday. Thomas died as a result of a kidney disorder.
Speaking to The Mayo News Marian said she was ‘overwhelmed’ by the generosity of her uncle.
“He remembered everybody in his will, and he wanted to remember Thomas and Stephanie … He decided that this is what he wanted to do,” explained Marian, adding that Andy recognised the need for a unit after his regular visits to Stephanie in hospital.
Marian and her husband Pat took turns in bringing their daughter into the Galway hospital throughout her illness while also bringing up their other children Sarah Louise and Robert.
There is currently ‘strong interest’ in the property, and the Keane’s are looking to get the ‘best price possible’.
Marian explained that a new unit CF unit in UCHG will make the admission process for families much easier, and safer. “It will take all the worry out of it. It reassure parents and patients about what’s going to happen and it will reduce the risk of infection,” she said.