Community rallies to back Galway braveheart in cancer battle

Life changed irrevocably for the Gaynor family of Na Forbacha on the night of April 26, 2015.  Up to then, Ronan Gaynor was like any other three-year old boy – an adventurous, bundle of joy.

“Ronan would always have a smile for you,” says his father, Mark.

“Before he was sick – and it still holds true – he was happy-go-lucky. I used to say he’d run through a wall. He was big, even as a baby. Not chubby but big and muscular.”

Ronan had suffered from asthma-like symptoms, sinus and mucus; and he had scheduled to have an operation on his adenoids – but on that night over two years ago, Mark, worried, brought him to his local GP.

They were referred to University Hospital Galway for an MRI scan, and later that night, Mark and his wife Evelyn, were informed their second child had a tumour.

Ronan was rushed to Crumlin Children’s Hospital in Dublin, where it was later confirmed that the tumour of the brain was what’s known as DIPG, which is colloquially referred to as ‘The Beast’.

“That was devastating,” recalls Mark of his only son’s terminal prognosis.

The average survival time is nine months; only ten per cent of children survive two years after diagnosis, and less than one per cent survive for five years.

And yet 25 months on from diagnosis, Ronan – who is called ‘Sir Ronan the Brave’ – is battling the odds.

The community in Furbo, Barna, right across Galway and in Dublin has been a huge help, and source of comfort, says Mark.

And this Saturday, June 10, Barna GAA is hosting a ‘Peileathon’ Furbo pitch from 2.30pm to 6pm for Ronan’s Hope.

All age groups will play a match, beginning with U6s right up to senior. It is €5 per player and donations are welcome. All Barna GAA players are urged to attend, as is the general public.

“It is heart-breaking but . . . Ronan is a trooper, he really is a trooper. If he can be at the pitch on Saturday, even if it’s just for a short time, he will be there,” added Mark.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune – and visit the Facebook pages of Barna GAA or Ronan’s Hope for more information about Ronan and Saturday’s Peileathon.