A Rosscarbery woman's dying wish to raise funds for Marymount Hospice is being fulfilled by her family and friends
A ROSSCARBERY woman’s dying wish to raise funds for Marymount Hospice is being fulfilled by her family and friends. A former nurse, Shelly Hayes (38) from Burgatia in Rosscarbery, was married to Derry O’Donovan and well known in her community. She sadly lost her battle against melanoma cancer six weeks ago after fighting it for several years and undergoing 13 operations. Her cancer started with a tumour on her thumb eight years ago and after that initial diagnosis, her determination and strong personality saw her face it head on, adamant that her diagnosis wouldn’t define her.
Her dad Steve Hayes said: ‘Shelly was in Marymount towards the end of last year for periods and she asked me 10 days before she died if I would do some fundraising for Marymount and I promised her I would. We started Shelly’s Drive for Marymount and plan to host a number of fundraising events over the next six to eight weeks, culminating in a Family Fun Day at the Celtic Ross Hotel on May 13th. We have a set a target of between €25,0000 to €30,000 and we’re confident we can reach it.’
Their first event was a coffee morning in the home of John and Sheila O’Regan in Rosscarbery last Saturday and €8,000 was raised which exceeded their expectations.
‘We had our official launch in the Celtic Ross Hotel on Monday night and we were delighted to welcome John Caulfield, manager of Cork City FC and Dan Cronin of Friends of Marymount. John presented us with a signed Cork City jersey which we will auction at a later date and we also have a signed Munster jersey to auction,’ added Steve.
‘We will also be holding a Big Car Wash at John and Sheila O’Regan’s home on Sunday May 6th and our fundraising events will culminate in the final event with the Family Fun Day on May 13th. We will leave the fund open until the end of that month.’
To keep up to date with the various fundraising events over the next few weeks see ‘Shelly’s Drive for Marymount’ on Facebook. For those unable to attend the various fundraising events and who would like to contribute the bank details are as follows. IBIC: AIBKIE2D IBAN: IE84AIBK93605714586074
