Charity cycle from London to Lahinch

A Cavan man is this week cycling from London to Ennistymon, Co Clare to remember a friend who passed away last year from a rare form of cancer last year.

Declan Sexton, from Lahinch, died at the age of 27 years from a very rare form of cancer called Fibrolamellar cancer (also known as FLC), which affects one in five million people.

And now Conor Calder from Killeshandra has joined forces with Kildare man David Carey, and Cork lads Seanie Madigan, Leo O'Regan, Sean Ronayne, Francis O'Flynn and Conor Meaney, for a fundraiser in his memory. They are cycling from Declan’s second home in London (where he lived and worked as a civil engineer) to his home in Ennistymon.

On the way they are hoping to raise awareness and much-needed funds for the Irish Cancer Society.

“The fundraising is going very well - we had originally aimed for €25,000 but we have already raised over €33,000 so we have raised it to €35,000 now. And who knows, we might even go higher again!"

The journey started on last Saturday, May 21, and the lads are expected to arrive in Lahinch on Friday, May 27, with each day seeing them cycle approximately 120km.

On Wednesday, May 25, they will arrive in Dublin port at 12:30pm and will cycle from there to Maynooth, where one of the lads and a cousin of Declan, David Carey, lives.

On Thursday, May 26, they will cycle to Portumna, passing through Edenderry, Tullamore and Birr along the way.

On Friday, they will travel to Ennistymon via Corofin and Gort.

The starting point in London was Brother Pearses GAA Club in London and will also include Ennistymon GAA - Declan played hurling for both.

“Declan worked in London as a civil engineer following graduation from the University of Limerick in 2015,” said Conor.

“He worked hard and played hard, togging out for Brother Pearses in London, the University of Limerick and Ennistymon throughout his hurling days.

“We have to admit, we are a group of very average cyclists and we’re hoping the support of the public will give them the motivation to pedal every inch of the way."

The Irish Cancer Society is the largest voluntary funder of cancer research in Ireland and they are committed to improving the lives of those impacted by cancer in Ireland through research.

“This year more than 40,000 people in Ireland will hear the words ‘you have cancer’. Thankfully, though, six in 10 people diagnosed with life-threatening invasive cancer will survive the disease for at least five years, and most of those won’t succumb to their disease," said Conor. Almost all diagnosed with non-invasive cancers such as Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer (NMSC) will be cured. Survival rates are continuing to improve and people are living well with cancer and living for longer thanks to research and advances in detection and treatment.

Today, more than 200,000 people are living with and beyond cancer in Ireland.

If you wish to support the lads, click here