Breakthrough Cancer Research – The Best Gift This Christmas
DECEMBER 2020
“The best gift you can give this Christmas is the gift of more Christmases. My husband Brendan, father to our girls Niamh and Fiadh sadly passed away 3 years ago, but not before we spent one last perfect Christmas together. Research bought Brendan more time, it gave him and our young family the gift of another Christmas.
Brendan was diagnosed with Melanoma, stage 4 Melanoma. I cannot put into words the devastation this news brought, but we were later given a glimmer of hope when we found out that Brendan qualified for a new targeted therapy. It was a miracle! Within 24 hours he started to feel better. For six precious months our lives went back to normal. Then the treatment stopped working, but thankfully there were other options. All I could keep hoping for was more time. Brendan began immunotherapy, which again worked in the beginning and bought us more precious time.
Skin cancers are the most common cancers in Ireland. While some are easily treated, others, like melanoma are deadly. While I wish more treatment options or a cure had existed for Brendan, I am still so grateful for the time that cancer research gave my family. When Brendan was first diagnosed he was given 3 months to live. Thanks to new treatments, because of kind people like you supporting research, we had 15. We got the gift of more time but we really wanted a lifetime. And that’s what immunotherapy can give to some people, just not enough. It’s why Breakthrough have three research programmes to find out how to make this power treatment work for more fathers and for longer.
During this the season of giving, if you have anything at all to spare, please consider donating to cancer research and giving other families like mine another magical Christmas”
Cliona Murphy
Brendan’s wife, Niamh & Fiadh’s mum, and like you, a proud supporter of Breakthrough Cancer Research
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Over 200,000 people In Ireland will get to have Christmas this year, because of cancer research…but that’s not enough. Cancer survivor rates are still cruelly unequal. Only more research can make more survivors faster, and help us achieve 100% survival for 100% of cancers. Help Make More Christmases.
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