Strabane woman raises £3k for cancer charity to thank them for helping her dad

A STRABANE woman has raised more over than £3,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support in honour of her father who is receiving support from the charity.

Áine Devine (née Sharkey) took on the challenge of walking 100km in November with her dog Bródy and was also accompanied by her friend Anne O’Neil and her pooch, Peanut.

Áine stepped up to the task to thank the charity and its nurses for the support they have shown her father, Mark Sharkey, following a terminal cancer diagnosis.

She told the Chronicle, “My dad got a terminal diagnosis in July and it was a huge shock to us and as a family we are just trying to cope with everything.

“Macmillan did a lot of different things with us like counselling as well as services at the hospital.”

Áine added, “They depend a lot on their fundraisers, which is difficult with Coronavirus, so I wanted to highlight just how much they do for families and they need the donations to keep going and helping families and patients going through this.”

Anne and Áine set an initial fundraising target of £300, which was beat within hours of the fundraising page being set up. They have now achieved over 10 times that target.

Áine said, “The support from everybody in Strabane has just been amazing.”

While getting her walks in, Áine and her husband Árón were busy planning their wedding for early December in just 10 weeks.

“Once dad started being good with his treatments and after his second round of chemo he said he was doing really well and we just decided we could pull it together within the 10 weeks,” she explained.

A delighted Mark was able to walk his daughter down the aisle on the big day.

Áine added, “It was so emotional but we were just so blessed to have everyone there.”

The amount of money donated is a “sign of how popular my dad is and how much everyone thinks of him,” Áine said.

Macmillan contacted Áine to tell her that she was among their top fundraisers for the month of November.

Thankfully Mark continues to be doing “really well” with his treatment.

Áine’s fundraiser has ended, but if you would like to donate to Macmillan, visit their website at www.macmillan.org.uk/donate.