Galway cancer women search for miracle cure

Two young women living metres apart in Ballinfoile in Galway City are trying to raise money to seek alternative treatment abroad for their terminal cancer.

The devastating stories of Ann Marie McDonagh, 38, and Amy Galvin, 28, has galvanized the tightknit community on the Headford Road to help the women in their quest.

Ann Marie was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was just 25, mother to four year old Conor and six-month-old Jason.

The hairdresser had a mastectomy followed by chemotherapy and radiation and was thrilled by the news that her cancer was in remission. However, things came crashing down in 2014.

“The cancer was back, this time in the lungs and it was incurable but 90% treatable.”

Ann Marie stayed on chemotherapy for six months but has sought treatment in clinics which specialise in alternative treatments in Spain and the Netherlands and has noticed a massive change in her condition.

She wants to attend a German clinic where patients are reporting excellent results but it costs €5,000 for a week’s stay.

Amy was just 26, busy studying to be a youth worker and counsellor, when she sought treatment for what she thought were the symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome before Christmas 2013.

It turned out to be stage three ovarian Teratoma cancer, which has seen her undergo 34 rounds of chemotherapy.

Amy plans to undergo a resection of her liver and small bowel in a UK hospital, for which medical expenses are covered by the HSE but not aftercare following the procedure.

Friends are organising a fundraiser in the Menlo Park Hotel on Sunday, July 31. Check out their Facebook Page: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun – a night for Amy and Ann Marie. For tickets contact 085-283 4907.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.