Joe Coyle and Thomas Given to walk from Mountcharles to Downings for charity
An avid walker and qualified walking guide Joe Coyle, along with Thomas Given, will depart from Mountcharles Pier on Donegal Bay at 4am before making their way to Downings
Joe Coyle is a survivor of Prostate Cancer and is embarking on a fundraising walk for Cancer Care West, Support Centre Donegal.
Joe hails from Downings in the Rosguill Peninsula and now resides in Mountcharles in the south Donegal.
Joe and Thomas Given will set out on a 100km walk from Donegal Bay to the North Atlantic Coast which is a journey of 100km on May 2.
Joe intends to fulfil this walk within the one day. His intention is to raise awareness amongst men over 45 years of age of the absolute need to have their prostate checked. As with all cancers early detection is vital and Joe has firsthand experience of knowing the importance of the vital personal statistic of knowing your PSA rating.
Ultimately Joe’s driver’s licence expired, he needed a medical and what should have been a simple renewal became a complete life health check, albeit with a very positive outcome. The walk of 100km will raise much needed funds for Cancer Care West in Donegal who gave excellent professional and personal support to Joe and his family on his cancer journey.
Joe wants to give back to this vital Donegal service which gives excellent counselling and cancer supports to those on a cancer journey from all corners of Donegal.
An avid walker and qualified walking guide, Joe, along with Thomas, will depart from Mountcharles Pier on Donegal Bay at 4am on Friday, May 2 and walk via the picturesque Lough Eske to the twin towns of Ballybofey and Stranorlar and onto the commercial capital of Donegal, Letterkenny.
From here the two men will continue their walk through Kilmacrennan and the beautiful Lough Salt and onto Carrigart and Downings via the Atlantic Drive.
“I’m very grateful to have beaten prostate cancer”, says Joe “Gratitude is everything in life and especially when you come out the other side of a Prostate Cancer surgery from January 2022.
Walkers are welcome to join Joe for some or all of the walk (with those joining being responsible for their own safety, transport and provisions), and Joe invites everyone to donate to Cancer Care West Donegal via his iDonate page Prostate Cancer Walk 100km1 Day 2.5.25.
.
All proceeds go directly to the vital services which the cancer charity provides for men, women and children across Donegal who’re on a cancer journey.
“The numbers of men being diagnosed with prostate cancer are increasing”, says Joe Coyle, “ultimately I’m pleading with men over 45 to go to their GP and get their PSA number (Prostate Signal Antigen, which is a marker in the blood for Prostate Cancer) and become familiar with it.
“When I became aware of mine at the rate of 3.6. I wondered if I had just won the Lotto or was I on the way out? My GP felt that while it was under 4.00 there was no urgent cause for concern. The first test or reading is the most important as all future tests are benchmarked against that one. In my case my previous reading was 2.6”
Contact Joe Coyle on 087-2579931 [email protected] or follow the event Facebook page or LinkedIn or Thomas Given on 0873888178 or [email protected]