Philip Killeen, a Transition Year student at Presentation College Athenry,has embarked on a 775km charity cycle in memory of his grandmother, who passed away in London during the Christmas holidays.
Mary Killeen grew up in Galway before moving to England with her husband Sean where they spent the majority of their lives raising four children.
During her life Mary Killeen overcame a cancer battle and some of her grandchildren would visit her every October. “We took our annual visit each October mid-term to visit our family,” Layla Killeen, a Leaving Cert student at Pres Athenry, explains.
.
“Obviously, this could not happen this year, and my brother and I have not seen any family, besides our parents, in 16 months. During the past year, since Covid-19 came into our lives, Nanny spent most of her time in and out of hospitals and nursing homes.
“My grandad was often unable to visit her, making this particularly painful. Nanny went into hospital once again on Christmas Day, and she passed on the 30th. We were unable to attend the funeral.”
It has been a particularly demanding time for the family, but Layla explains that her brother wanted to honour their grandmother’s memory.
“Of course, the person most affected by all of this is my grandad,” Layla says. "He cannot grieve for his wife, the woman he was with for 60 years, with all of children alongside him. He cannot fill the quiet house with visitors, his friends that he has made since they moved to London cannot come to pay their respects.
.
“He has been left alone in the most isolating time any of us have lived through. So, my brother had an idea. Philip decided he would cycle 775km, the distance from our home in Kiltullagh to our grandad’s house in London.
“While cycling this distance over the next few months, Philip has been and will continue to raise awareness and money for Cancer Care West, in recognition of the work being carried out around the world for people like our nan.
“In January a GoFundMe page (https://www.gofundme.com/f/cycling-for-my-nanny-and-cancer-awareness?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1 ) was set up aiming to raise €775, €1 for every kilometre. That has already been surprassed with 150km of the cycle completed. The Tranquility Gym in Athenry has offered to donate an exercise bike while under lockdown restrictions to assist Philip contacts his grandad everyday to offer a progress update on this commendable fundraising initiative.
