Sam’s brave battle off-stage

Sam’s brave battle for life off-stage


Country Roads
Michael Commins

AS Sam O’Doherty was delighting the audience at the recent Monday night concert in the McWilliam Park Hotel in Claremorris, few were aware of the trauma he had been through just over a year ago. The brilliant Tipperary entertainer fought his own private battle with courage that should be an inspiration to all.
“I wasn’t feeling that great and I went to my own doctor. He took a blood test and some time later he called me and said ‘Your prostate is reading high. Look, there’s something there, Sam’.”
It was the last thing Sam wanted to hear. A busy diary with dates booked up to 2011, lots of overseas work on the Caribbean cruises and the Fleadh Ibiza and Fleadh Portugal, Sam never doubted the quality of his health.
“The doctor sent me to a Mr Fitzpatrick in the Mater Private in Dublin. He tested the samples and they showed up positive. He said to me, ‘I’m sorry to say, Sam, you have cancer.’ It was an awful fright to get. After the initial shock, I said to him ‘how do we get rid of it?’. He said ‘well it’s either an operation or radium’. There and then I said I’d go for the radium.
“The doctors were very supportive and one said to me, ‘In six months’ time, you’ll be wondering what the fuss was all about, Sam. You have every chance since we have it early’.
“So for five days a week, Monday to Friday, for six weeks coming up to last Christmas, I travelled to the Whitfield Cancer Clinic in Waterford which is owned by the University of Pittsburgh. They have a great team there. They did the scans and at 8.30am each morning I was up on the table and getting the treatment. Sure I had some great fun with the other guys there, jokes and the whole lot. They didn’t know what hit them. They were all laughing, doctors and all.”
Through all of his treatment, Sam never missed a single gig. “There were times when I was weak but I carried through even though I knew I would only have a few hours in bed before we would be on the road to Waterford in the morning again. When I’d get back from the Whitfield Clinic, I would go straight to bed as well. You had to get some rest.
“People were great, the whole south of the country was behind me. There would be people waiting for me when I arrived at a gig to help carry in the stuff. They were so good to me. My wife Kate and sons Shane and Sammy, and the girls, Saine, Aisling and Samantha, were all hugely supportive and helped me out with the driving to the clinic in Waterford and to the gigs.”
Last April, Sam was once again one of the stars of the Fleadh Ibiza on the Mediterranean island, delighting people from all over Ireland and England with his wonderful music and humour. Standing ovations were accorded to him at the end of each concert. Few outside the Munster region were aware of what he had been through a few short months earlier.
“I’m now on three months watch for the check-up. But things have been going well for me so far. I’m still doing all my regular gigs around the southern counties. And what a wonderful night I had up in Claremorris. Lovely people. What a reception I got from them.
“I join up with Nick McCarthy for the Caribbean cruises where we go by Mac and O. I’ve been in the music game since the late 1950s. I remember the first half crown I got for music. I can still see the horse on it!”
And he has some good words of advice for many men out there. “I would advise everyone to have the blood test done. It only takes a few seconds but it could be the most important few seconds you’ll ever spend. Get in to your local doctor and ask him or her to do the test. I’m glad I did and got the whole thing in time. Too many wait until it can be too late.”

Sam O’Doherty has recorded a number of albums and one DVD which features scenes shot at Knock Shrine during his singing of Lady of Knock. He can be contacted at 062 54438.