EastEnder heads into the west to join in Galway Memorial Walk

An English soap actor will swap theatre scrubs for a t-shirt bearing the name of his late brother when he takes to the Prom next Sunday in the 2014 Galway Memorial Walk.

Best known for the character Nigel on EastEnders and currently playing Holby City surgeon Elliot Hope, Paul Bradley is walking in memory of Dara, a Barna resident who worked as an architect for Galway Corporation. He died in Galway Hospice in 2002 aged 51 from cancer.

During his illness, it was discovered he suffered from a genetic condition called Haemochromatosis, which is an iron overload disorder. Ironically, his early death saved his four brothers from the same fate, explained Paul. After testing it was discovered they all had what in America is labelled the Celtic Curse.

“There are no real signs. Just tiredness really, so it’s really silent. I was reading a book about the world’s deadliest diseases and Haemochromatosis was in it. Dara was going to New Zealand and he took iron tablets as he was feeling tired, so it was fuel on the fire and eventually led to the cancer.”

Paul and his brothers keep the condition in check by donating blood regularly to keep their iron levels down. After his sister did the walk last year, Paul decided to sign up in 2014, in part to thank the hospice staff.

“At the time and for a while afterwards you don’t think of those people who made it so dignified. I don’t know how they do that work. I also wanted to pay tribute to Dara, he was an incredibly generous man, witty and creative.”

The five brothers and a sister were raised in London by their Irish parents; mother Eithne Gillan was from Inis Óirr and father Ciaran Bradley was a Dubliner. The couple met studying medicine in Dublin before emigrating to the UK where their father worked as a GP.

The family would return to Galway for summer holidays and bought a cottage in Barna. It was this cottage that Dara later made his home.

***The ninth annual Galway Memorial Walk begins at midday from Claddagh Hall this Sunday. Contact Galway Hospice on (091)770868; email fundraising@galwayhospice.ie or see www.galwayhospice.ie

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.