Tipperary 9-year-old Jack does fundraiser in honour of ‘amazing’ mum lost to cancer
Primary school pupil Jack Joyce has embarked on a challenge to walk 9,000 steps each day in March to raise funds for cancer research in honour of his late mum Audrey.
Cahir local Jack took on the Irish Cancer Society’s steps challenge, which sees people doing 9,000 steps each day in the month of Daffodil Day on March 25 to commemorate the 9,000 lives lost to cancer each year, with the support of his dad Dermot.
The Joyces lost their beloved wife and mother Audrey to breast cancer in June of last year, and Jack saw the challenge as the perfect way to take part and take back from cancer as the charity is asking people to do for its Daffodil Day fundraiser this year.
Explaining his reason for taking part, brave Jack said: “I’m doing this to raise money for the Irish Cancer Society, so they can do help make sure no other kid has to put up with what I have had to put up with. I have loads of memories of me and mum so I’m doing the walk because I want to bring the memories of her all to the one place; and she is never gone, she is still in my heart and my head.
“I’d like to give a big shout out to some people who have helped me: my teacher Ms Hanly, my friends Dean and Jake and some of my school friends, my cousins, my aunty Therese, my uncle Patrick, and a few others, and a big Thank You to all the people who are donating to my fundraiser.”
Jack’s dad Dermot said: “Audrey was an amazing lady who always made time for everyone. She had an incredible strength of character, and bore her illness with great dignity right to the very end, even amid all the difficulty of the pandemic.
“I can’t put into words how proud I am of Jack, not just for doing this fundraiser in her memory but for how he has handled everything through such a difficult time, and how he cared for and helped his mum when she was unwell. He really is my little hero.”
The Joyces will be among thousands of fundraisers taking part to take back from cancer this Daffodil Day, so that one day cancer will take no more.
On top of supporting life-changing cancer research, the Irish Cancer Society provides vital services to patients and their families in Tipperary each year, including supporting over 770 counselling sessions, over 400 nights of in-home Night Nursing for patients in their final days, and more than 330 Volunteer Driving lifts to get patients safely to and from their hospital appointments in 2021.
As Daffodil Day returns to the streets of Ireland for the first time since 2019 on March 25, the Irish Cancer Society is calling on the public to take part in any way they can to show solidarity and support for anyone affected by cancer.
As well as donating at Cancer.ie and volunteering to help fundraise, they can purchase items from the Daffodil Day online shop and take part in a steps challenge.
Irish Cancer Society CEO Averil Power said: “We are so excited to be able to get out on the streets again to see the amazing support the people of Ireland show to anyone affected by cancer. Daffodil Day is such a special and hopeful day for our entire community. Throughout the pandemic we’ve been so lucky that people have found innovative ways to support us but we are looking forward to seeing Ireland turn yellow once again on March 25.
“Daffodil Day is our most important fundraising event of the year and the money raised goes directly to funding crucial supports including our Support Line, free counselling, our Night Nurses to provide end of life care, and financial support for families of children affected by cancer. Along with these services, the money raised on Daffodil Day allows us to support life-changing cancer research.”
For more information about Daffodil Day visit www.Cancer.ie/DaffodilDay .
Anyone with concerns or questions about cancer can contact the Irish Cancer Society Support Line on Freephone 1800 200 700 and SupportLine@IrishCancer.ie
Ways to support Daffodil Day
- Donate at www.Cancer.ie/Donate or over the phone on 0818 10 20 30
- Sell Daffodil pins in your local community
- Donate through Facebook, Instagram or JustGiving
- Register for our steps challenge at www.cancer.ie/ways-to-help/
fundraise/daffodil-day/get- involved-this-daffodil-day/ take-part-in-our-steps- challenge-this-march - Purchase Daffodil Day items on our online shop
- Purchase a Daffodil pin and donate at Centra stores nationwide
- Revolut users can donate to the Irish Cancer Society through the ‘Donations Tab’ on the Revolut app
- By texting DAF, DAFF or DAFFODIL (€4) to 50300
- By getting your primary school, secondary school or company involved: www.Cancer.ie/
GetInvolved