The cream of the country’s musicians will take part in a virtual concert in aid of Saoírse Ruane from Kiltullagh, Co Galway. Cliona Hagan, Mike Denver, Rory’s Stories, Blessed, The Two Johnnies and KeyWest are some of the acts who have agreed to take part in the concert that will be broadcast across the Saoirse Summerfest social media platforms on Sunday, August 2nd.
In December 2019, when she was aged 7, Saoírse was diagnosed with an osteosarcoma tumour, a rare form of cancer, in her tibia. This is a life-threatening tumour which will require Saoírse to have months of intense chemotherapy in Crumlin. Not only has Saoírse to endure this treatment but she also underwent life changing surgery in March 2020 for an amputation to her right leg. Saoírse is currently awaiting her first prosthetic and begin the next step of her journey in adapting to life with a prosthetic.
As a young growing girl, she will require ongoing prosthetics which can range in cost from €5,000 to €30,000, as well as modifications to the family home to make life easier.
There is currently a GoFundMe page to help ease the financial burden of the family and through the generosity of people from all over Ireland and beyond the target is almost met. Along with Saoírse, the charities to benefit from this event are Children’s Hospital Crumlin, Hand in Hand, Aoibheann’s Pink Tie, Irish Cancer Society and Galway University Hospital.
Saoírse is an incredibly talented girl with a love of all things music, therefore as a way of supporting her and the charities who deal with cases similar to Saoírse on a daily basis Saoírse’s Summer Fest was born.
The event is kindly sponsored by Kiltullagh locals, Pat and Una McDonagh of the Galway Plaza and Supermac’s, and aims to bring the best of Irish musical talent to a wide audience from the comfort of their own homes.
Event organiser, Paul Hoban, said that there are still a few big name acts ready to sign up to the event. “We would like to thank all the acts who have agreed to be part of this special event for Saoirse. The support for the Saoirse Summerfest from the local community, the public and the acts taking part has been a massive inspiration. And it doesn’t stop there as we hope to announce the participation of a major international act in the next couple of weeks,” he said.
The event will be streamed online on www.saoirsessummerfest.com People can log on to the website and donate through the GoFundMe link on the site.
