Story
Hello all. Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
You can visit my blog at www.ryanjmccormack.blogspot.com which will be a written account of my marathon experience.
Here follows the email letter I sent a Marie Curie representative when I was applying for the London 2010 marathon.
It may be long, but it's worth the read.
Why do I want to run?
My reasons are two.
Firstly, it has always been an ambition of mine to run the London Marathon. It is part of a long list of goals I want to achieve in my
lifetime. As to where this goal came from, I don't know.
Secondly, and what has moved me into action, is that recently I
experienced what it's like to be with someone who is dying from cancer,
and have lost other family to cancer.
Last October was a particularly tough month in that my cousin, Saoirse McHugh, died
at four and a half months (cot death), then my childhood friend passed
on (cancer - 35 years old - same age as me at the time), and then my Uncle John Freeman, with whom I spent a great deal of time with as a child, was
diagnosed with cancer and died the very next day.
I spent alot of my time with my mate, Dan mawby, in the last six
months of his life. He came to visit me in May 2008 to deliver the
news and once it was said, that was that. The last thing he said that
evening before he left remains between us. It's funny, but out of all that was going on,
saying what he said to me was the most upsetting for him. His concerns were for other people. Anyhow, the
next six months were for me and him, in our own connected way, the best
we had ever had. I maintained a belief called, ' you never know', and
hoped that would be enough for him to survive.
Dan died on Oct 19th, and my Uncle John on Oct 21st. I was totally shocked and totally upset.
In January of this year my Grandmother was sent home from hospital
to die in peace and comfort. Whilst in hospital there was hope that
some change would come, but in the end the doctors conceded that she
would most likely die, so my uncle said that she was going home. Around this time my wife was 8 months pregnant and it remained my wish
to present my soon to be born son to my Gran but it wasn't to be.
I did get to speak with Rose before she passed away and it was
so upsetting. She couldn't speak, so I did, and I told her to hang on
in there and that I'd be over with my son to see her soon. I made
myself believe that she heard what I was saying and knew that it was me
who was talking. At the end I felt like I was a part of her passing,
as I was with Dan's, and that means the world to me.
My Granny was looked after by Marie Curie nurses. During the
period she was home, and when I spoke with my father, he would tell me
about who they were and how truly great they were. In Magherafelt
(Derry, Ireland) everybody somehow still knows or is related to
everybody else, and when stories get told you get this information. It's tradition I'm sure. There were some nurses in particular who my
family are totally endebted to.
My father has always held his mother in the highest regard, as
have I my dad, and strange as it is for me, the loss of my Grandmother was the
most emotive. I wasn't physically there at the end but the
sense of pride I felt, and gratitude for what the nurses did and do,
remains with me.
I want to run because I didn't get to say thank you for what they
did for my Grandmother and for what they did for my family. More than
anything for those reasons.
That was my letter. Just after sending this, Doris Fryer, my gran-in-law, passed on.
All those who have passed I have made my team members.
Thank you for reading.
That was my letter. Just after sending this, Doris Fryer, my gran-in-law, passed on.
All those who have passed I have made my team members.
Thank you for reading.
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