All-Ireland winner battles cancer – and vows to help fellow sufferers

The winner of five senior club medals in Galway has been diagnosed with bowel, lung and liver cancer and has vowed to help fellow sufferers.

In fact Peter Cooney – brother of All-Ireland winner Joe Cooney – says that he is lucky to reflect on a career in hurling that also brought him two All-Ireland club titles.

But now he is facing a new challenge having being diagnosed with cancer in March 2017 and is currently undergoing treatment in Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe.

And he has paid tribute the East Galway and Midlands Cancer Support group in Ballinasloe for whom he has raised more than €80,000 in recent months.

These funds will allow the group to extend their current facilities at Brackernagh, Ballinasloe but more monies are required.

For the past 18 months Peter along with his wife Emer, sons Oisin (17), Cormac (12) and Eanna (10) have availed of the facilities provided at the centre.

He said that his family will profess at first hand the experience of support and car that has been provided to them which was the incentive required for his fund raising initiative.

Peter, from Bullaun, is a member of the Sarsfields GAA Club and is currently undergoing intensive treatment for cancer.

“It is an invaluable source of support, care and comfort to the patients, family and friends that use their services free of charge.

“Due to the centre being a product of their own success they are in the process of constructing an extension to their current facilities at the top of Brackernagh, Ballinasloe.

“This will allow their support workers and therapists to extend their care and support to more families in much need of this service”, Peter told The Connacht Tribune.

To assist with this development Peter decided to help focus his energy and effort into organising a fundraising raffle coinciding with a card game event.

From his own GAA days with Sarsfields he was lucky enough to win five senior club titles and two all-Ireland club titles alongside his brothers Jimmy, Pakie, Michael, Joe and Brendan who were all supporting him in his fundraising efforts.

They were fully behind him as was Hubert Geoghegan a close personal friend of Peter who helped organise the incredibly successful event.

Recently Peter Cooney and Hubert Geoghegan presented a cheque for an astounding €80,131.65 to the Director of Services Jacqueline Daly, Chairperson of the Committee Mossy Concannon and Chairperson of the Board Michael Daly at East Galway & Midlands Cancer Support.

Peter Cooney paid a special thanks to the GAA clubs across Galway that helped his fundraiser out. There were more than 40 in total.

The marts in Athenry, Ballinasloe, Gort, Loughrea and Mountbellew along with McInerneys SuperValu, Loughrea supported the cause as well.

East Galway and Midlands Cancer Support was formed in 2012 and is a non-profit charitable organisation which provides a network of psychological, emotional and practical support for those diagnosed with cancer.