Brenda Doody, will run 12 marathons in 8 months for the Mercy Hospital, Cork. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
A TRALEE woman is set to run 12 marathons in eight months to raise funds for those who helped her husband through his cancer ordeal.
Last summer, Brenda Doody got the devastating news that her husband, Pat, was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer.
To give back to the people who helped him, she will raise funds for Mercy Hospital, Cork, by running 12 marathons in 8 months.
Last May, Pat Doody who is Research Director of the IMAR Technology Gateway in the IT, was diagnosed with a tumour in his oesophagus. At 45 years age, Pat was a non-smoker who drank very little.
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“He felt there was something not right with him, so went to the GP and got referred to Mercy Hospital, Cork,” said Brenda.
“When they diagnosed him, they moved very fast because it was quite an aggressive tumour. In four weeks he started his chemotherapy. In September, all his oesophagus was removed and out of half of his stomach, they made a new oesophagus,” she said.
“There has been major life changes since. Pat has lost a lot of weight, but he’s here and he’s healthy so far and hopefully we’re on the other side of it,” she said.
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Brenda and Pat live in Curraheen and have two sons, Gavin and Colin, aged 12 and 10.
“We told them from day one, they knew something wasn’t right. Me and Pat were gone all summer so the boys were absolutely spoiled rotten. It has effected them, but children get on with it, they adapt,” said Brenda.
Brenda’s 12 marathon adventure, will take her to seven different counties, starting in Tralee next month and finishing with the Dublin marathon in October. Incredibly, in Donegal she will be tackling four marathons in four days.
“I originally said I wanted to do five, but then I discovered the four in four days and I thought, let’s give it a shot!” said Brenda.
A health and fitness instructor by trade, she is well versed in how to prepare for such a massive undertaking.
“I used do a lot of work on my own with running groups, but when Pat got sick last year I had to take time out. We had to go up and down to Cork for treatment, we didn’t know what was ahead of us,” Brenda said.
“I couldn’t continue with work because my head wasn’t in it. Pat is meeting the doctor in two weeks so hopefully our lives can get back to some bit of normality,” she said.
“We didn’t even know where the Mercy Hospital was the first day we went down. The level of care was unbelievable, they were even worried about me and was I looking after myself. I could not praise them enough,” she said.
Over the past months, Brenda has used running as way of clearing her mind after all that has gone on.
“I just felt for myself psychologically, I needed something, so this is my way of coping. I didn’t run when Pat came home first, but when he started getting better, I would drop Gavin and Colin to school in the morning, I knew Pat would be asleep so then I would go running. The run would just clear my head and I would be set-up for the day,” said Brenda.
- If you want to donate to Brenda’s cause or check out more information, CLICK HERE
