Connacht Tribune
Falling for the wife all over again!
A loving husband overcame his fear of heights to take a spectacular dive for his wife – and in the process help her tick another adventure off her bucket list.
Marian Daniels from Tuam was all set to do a skydive as the second last thing on that bucket list – until her hips told her otherwise. So she asked hubby Ronnie to stand in, and fall for her all over again!
The only problem was that Ronnie has no great love of heights, so tumbling from a plane at 10,000 feet – albeit in tandem, strapped to a seasoned professional – was far from his idea of fun.
But because it was for Marian – and to raise funds for the RNLI – he did it.
“The parachute jump took place in Clonbullogue, outside Edenderry in Co. Offaly last Saturday week, after many hours of waiting round for the cloud to lift,” reveals Marian.
“Ronnie eventually made the jump at 4.40 – and for a man who doesn’t like heights he absolutely loved it,” she adds.
Marian would have happily done it herself, but recurring problems with her hips ruled her out on medical advice.
She had her hips replaced four years ago, and when one of them dislocated, she needed a new replacement, and it was only a year since the surgery.
“My consultant said it could be healing for another eight months. I hated to let the RNLI down as I already had to cancel it a year ago. So I asked my husband to go in my place,” said the 67 year old.
Ironically the dive was a Christmas present from Ronnie and daughter Pamela to Marian, who lives in Brownsgrove in Tuam.
“I’m the only one in this family who’s a daredevil,” she laughs. “He wouldn’t go over the speed limit he’s so careful. He must love me very much.”
She may have to upgrade Ronnie to hero status after this, because it’s been a busy time for him – on and off the ground. He spent the lockdown, delivering oxygen to hospitals from a base in Oranmore.
Marian is nearly at the end of her bucket list, having swum with dolphins and gone to a Celine Dion concert in Las Vegas.
She has tested Ronnie’ s fear of heights before, because she had already roped him in for a hot air balloon ride in France as well as a paragliding session over the water. “He didn’t want to do it but he did and loved it,” she reveals. 
Her three hip operations have done nothing to dint her enthusiasm for life – and she is already making plans to take to the skies herself when medical advice allows it.
“I want to do this skydive – maybe to celebrate my 70th in three years’ time. It will have well healed by then,” she says.
But first she wanted to thank all who have donated to the RNLI in her name, via iDonate.
“I am very grateful for all of their support – and for those who still wish to donate to this very worthy cause the iDonate page is active until the end of August,” she adds.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
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The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
