Hundreds of people to take part in Relay for Life Mayo this weekend

More than five thousand Candle Bags of Hope will light up the sky over the South Mall in Westport this weekend for Relay for Life Mayo. Each candle bag will contain a personal message of hope and remembrance from cancer survivors and their family and friends.

The number of teams taking part in Relay for Life Mayo has grown from ten in the first year, to nearly thirty signed up for May 17. Organising Committee member, Charlotte Murray has hailed the 'huge local support'. Among the teams taking part, The Jester Bar Westport has so far raised over €37,000 and Team Breege, in memory of the late Breege Staunton, has raised nearly €20,000.

This will also be the first year that there will be an autism-friendly sensory tent. It will be located furtherest away from the speakers, near the McGreevy's Toy Direct shop. The event organisers are asking people to keep it as a non-drinking and non-smoking event because of the nature of the event.

The survivors lap is always one of the most poignant in the twenty-four hour relay. Last year, 60 survivor took part and this year, Relay for Life Mayo have engaged with over one hundred survivors.

READ MORE: Mayo stars help launch Relay for Life Mayo

Message of hope
Carmel Mulchrone is one of the survivors taking part in the survivors lap. The Westport woman is keen to offer a message of hope and encourages the whole community to get behind Relay for Life Mayo.

Carmel knows first-hand the shock when 'you when you get that initial word and that it is cancer'. In May 2021, she was very active and walked regularly when she got a pain in her neck. It was then that she noticed a dreaded lump on her breast.

One of the most difficult memories from the time was telling her children, Damian, Dee, Brian and Elaine about her diagnosis.

“I think I was strong for them and saying, 'look, I will get over this'. But you're also processing it yourself. You're dealing with it and you're not dealing with it. It's kind of two emotions. You think you're great, and then at times, it just hits you that, oh my god, this is a cancer diagnosis I'm dealing with. It's not a headache or a pain in your tummy or something else.”

Sharing a message of hope is one of the reasons Carmel got involved with the Relay for Life and since her own diagnosis, she has spoken and helped several other people. Recalling her own cancer journey, she says: “If plan A doesn't work, there's always plan B or plan C and with the advances in cancer treatment now that they will find a job for you that will help you.”

Carmel knows all about needing a plan B, as she got a toxic reaction to the first round of chemotherapy and was extremely ill from it. The fit and active woman describes the journey home from Galway as one she will 'never forget.'

“I just thought I was going to go. I was at that stage where I had nothing left in my body, it just completely wiped me. So that night, I was brought by ambulance to Mayo University Hospital.”

Her family rallied around with both her daughters Dee and Elaine, who is a nurse, helping their mother recover. After a number of weeks, her consultant doctor devised a new plan and it worked, leading to Carmel getting the very welcome news of being cancer free in November 2021.

Proud grandmother

The proud grandmother of eleven grandchildren, ranging in ages from 12 years old to one, recalls a funny moment during her treatment when her grandson Ruairí, who was visiting from England, ran into see her first thing in the morning before she had a chance to put her wig on.

“I got up shortly after and put the wig on, and Ruairí looked at me and said, 'Nanny, I thought you had no hair today'. I'd say he thought Poppy had an another woman in the bed,” laughs Carmel.

No stranger to fundraising, having been involved with the Westport branch of the Chernobyl International Outreach Group and the Mayo Roscommon Hospice for years, Carmel and her son-in-law, Damien Finnegan, raised over €20,000 for the Cancer Society of Ireland at the end of 2022.

She is taking part in this year's Relay for Life Mayo for all the survivors, those who can't be with us and neighbours and friends. The late Breege Staunton, a stalwart for Relay for Life who passed away last October, will also be firmly in her thoughts.

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All donations are welcome via https://www.relayforlife.ie/event/mayo/home or through any member of the Westport Relay For Life committee. For more information about the event please contact Charlotte Murray (087 3631938), Peter Flynn (087 6624898) or via the Relay For Life social media channels. Alternatively you can email westportrelayforlife@gmail.com.