Lady climbs Carrauntoohil to raise funds in memory of her Leitrim mother

A Longford woman scaled Ireland's highest mountain this week to raise funds for the Friends of the Midlands Regional Hospital Tullamore.

Gillian Martin says she undertook the climb on Wednesday last because of the excellent services provided in the end of life suites at Tullamore Hospital where her mother Helen died.

Helen Martin, Granard, was only 66 when she passed away in July, having been diagnosed with cancer in February 2022.

Helen had been a patient at St James's Hospital in Dublin but was then treated in Tullamore because it was more convenient for her family.

Tragically, Co Leitrim native Helen (nee Mulvanerty) from Rossy, Keshcarrigan, had only retired from her job as a librarian in Granard the October before her diagnosis with stage four of a rare aggressive form of ovarian cancer.

Her daughter Gillian, a primary teacher at an international school in the Netherlands, said herself, her father Patrick and her sisters Melissa and Carol were very impressed with the end of life suites, which were built with help from the charity, Friends of the Hospital Tullamore.

The late Helen Martin.

Gillian remembers the day she got the call to leave the Netherlands and get back to her family urgently.

“At the end of June, the 29th, my sister rang me to say things aren't good, you need to get home now so I jumped on a plane the next day and got home,” she said.

“The family were able to stay in the suite until Helen passed away. “So my dad, my two sisters, and myself were there literally day and night. We didn't go home.”

“There are four end of life suites at the hospital and the Martin family were in one on the ground floor which had a view of a courtyard and garden, facilities which were also provided with the help of the Friends of the Hospital.

“My mam loved gardening, she loved flowers, so she could see right out to the courtyard where there were flowers. It was really nice.”

She said the suites give families the privacy and space they need to spend those last moments with their loved one.

“I never knew about this suites prior to needing them and we will be eternally grateful to these volunteers for what they are doing with the charity.”

Prior to her mother being treated in Tullamore, Gillian did not even know such as thing as an end of life suite existed.

“It was an absolute godsend, between the staff, the nurses, everything. Unbelievable.”

Along with the room for the patient, each suite has a kitchenette/sitting room furnished with a couch and armchair, plus a bathroom, all interconnected.

“It's run by volunteers so I wanted to help and raise as much as possible for it and for the people who need it.”

The family raised about €850 by asking for donations in lieu of flowers at the funeral of Helen and because she loves hiking, Gillian decided she would take on the Carrauntoohil climb on Wednesday, October 25.

The 36-year-old previously climbed four Irish mountains in four days for a different charity and used her break from school in Holland to fly home for the trip to the Co Kerry peak.

“There's not much chance for hiking in the Netherlands,” she remarked.

“I'm only in Ireland for five days so I just wanted to challenge myself and do the highest mountain in Ireland.”

She set up a page for donations on the idonate platform – log onto https://www.idonate.ie/ fundraiser/Gorodische - and the fundraiser will run until December 11 next.

On the idonate page Gillian says: “The volunteers of this charity, work tirelessly to fundraise to keep these rooms open and functioning to an extremely high standard, but they cannot provide this invaluable service without your help. We hope that you will help us to help them, continue their amazing work for people facing their darkest days.”

In their own statement on the idonate web page, Friends of the Hospital Tullamore say fundraising is a continuous process.

“The need for funds has never been more acute than it is today. Vital equipment used in day to day patient care needs to be replaced to maintain and improve treatment where possible.

“When new technologies become available that can improve a patient's experience and life, the Friends, along with the Hospital Management team, want the people who need it most to benefit from any new equipment that will speed up diagnosis, improve treatment or enhance the experience of the patient.”