Ladies who abseil raised funds for charity

Shirley Nagle, Kay O’Keeffe, Nora O’Connor, Grainne Lynch and Sheila Casey with members of their families presenting the cheque to Christy Lehane and Nora Murphy of Kerry Friends of Motor Neurone

A GROUP of dedicated friends and neighbours anxious to help others in the community have raised thousands of euro for a really worthy cause.

Rathmore woman Shirley Nagle teamed-up with friends Kay O’Keeffe, Nora O’Connor, Grainne Lynch and Sheila Casey to host a coffee morning for the Kerry Friends of Motor Neurone – a cause close to their hearts – in Cahill’s Bar, Rathmore.

They were overwhelmed by the large turnout and all the contributions they received on the day and in the days that followed so they decided their fundraising efforts wouldn’t stop there.

Shirley, Sheila, Grainne, Nora and Kay then opted to put themselves to the ultimate test by abseiling 100ft from the top of the Hogan Stand in Croke Park to raise further funds for the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association.

The challenge was not for the faint-hearted but, as the adventurous ladies said, it was for a great cause as 86 per cent of the Irish Motor Neurone Disease budget is reliant on fundraising

“The generosity of the people was something to behold but the people of Rathmore and Gneeveguilla are all too familiar with Motor Neurone Disease,” said Shirley.

Christy Lehane: The number of people being diagnosed is on the increase

“They remember the recent passing of Bridie O’Neill while the late Paul Casey, Patrick Carmody and Patsy Hickey all passed away from this awful disease some time back”.

Christy Lehane, Chairman of Kerry Friends of Motor Neurone, thanked their families and friends for all they have done for Motor Neurone Disease by raising huge amounts of money since the organisation was founded in 2011.

Shirley, Sheila, Grainne, Nora and Kay have now presented a cheque for €7,211 to Christy Lehane and Nora Murphy of Kerry Friends of Motor Neurone in Cahill’s Bar Rathmore which represented the total proceeds of the coffee morning in Rathmore and abseil in Croke Park.

“Sadly, there is still no cure for Motor Neurone Disease but we are happy in the knowledge that the monies raised go towards the provision of specialist nursing care for patients and to afford them the comfort and dignity of spending their end-of-life in their own homes,’ said Christy.

“We do not know when or who will need the service next but the one thing we do know is that the numbers of people diagnosed with MND in recent times is on the increase,” he added.

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