Connacht Tribune
Helpers provide ‘priceless’ support for cancer service users
Receiving a cancer diagnosis comes like a body blow for many people, leaving them and their loved ones in a state of shock.
But they must quickly turn to the practicalities of treatment which, on its own, can be a huge ordeal.
Gort Cancer Support, founded with the aim of supporting people affected by cancer, has since its inception in 2007 sought to ease the strain – and with a dedicated team of volunteers, has touched the lives of countless people across South Galway.
Marking National Volunteer Week which runs until Sunday, Cara Brady, Centre Manager of Hollyblue House, Gort Cancer Support’s state-of-the-art facility just off Church Street, says the work done by their volunteers is “priceless”.
Around 40 volunteers work to welcome, meet and greet clients, facilitate peer support groups and run various activities at Hollyblue House.
Among those are 20 volunteer drivers who provide transport to clients of Gort Cancer Support as they travel to and from hospital for chemotherapy, radiotherapy and a variety of other oncology appointments.
This service, says Cara, makes all the difference to those dealing with cancer, particularly as making the trek from Gort and its hinterlands into University Hospital Galway throws up several challenges – especially if alternative transport options are not available.
“One family got in touch with us because they went in for the first day of radiotherapy, for an appointment at 2.30pm. they arrived at UHG at 1.45pm and even though they had a disabled badge, they still couldn’t get parking. It was 3pm before they managed to get parked and in for their treatment,” she explains.
“With us doing the driving for them, that takes away all of that stress. We pick them up at their house, bring them into their oncology, radiotherapy or chemotherapy appointments, drop them off at the door and then they are picked up again afterwards.”
Long-time volunteer at centre and Director of Gort Cancer Support, Mary Nolan, says the volunteer drivers offer a critically important service.
“A lot of people, if they’re on their own, mightn’t even have a way to get into town from rural areas even if they were well enough to get a bus, and they shouldn’t be going on a bus when they’re going through treatment. Their immune system is compromised.
“The drivers are meeting people at their most vulnerable – they are having such an impact on a person’s life by bringing them in and out. Even if somebody is going for something like reflexology, which people find so helpful – if you’ve to drive into Galway to get that, park the car and then drive home again, any benefit you have got is wiped out by the stress,” says Mary.
Those who volunteer for the driving service are often people looking for a way to give back, says Mary.
“Sometimes, it’s people who have just retired and they want to fill their time by doing something good. We have one person who has just gone to a three-day week and she wanted to do something on the days that she’s off,” she says.
Generally, those who volunteer are asked to drive somebody once or twice a month, and with more volunteers, the service could be expanded while spreading the load across more people.
“Generally, what happens is a person contacts us and tell us they have an appointment, say for chemotherapy, and they need to be in [UHG] for whatever time.
“We will go through our list of drivers and see who hasn’t done a drive for a while and try spread it out that way,” she says.
Mary adds that they do their best to ensure that the driver selected is based nearby.
“The broader the panel we have, the easier it will be on everybody.
“The drives have gone back to pre-Covid numbers, with around 30 clients. We didn’t do 30 drives in total over the three years of Covid which was shocking, and it’s not as though all of those people had someone to drive them. They are dealing with the backlog now. There’s a new unit opened at UHG for prostate cancer patients, for radiotherapy, and they’ll be operating that seven days a week,” says Mary.
“With the way that demand is growing, it would be great to get an extra few drivers.”
To volunteer, people need a licence and will be garda-vetted, but the service doesn’t require any additional insurance cover, says Mary, as there’s no payment “and it’s just like giving a lift to a neighbour”.
Extra volunteers are always welcome, she continues, in any aspect of their work.
“We cover South Galway and North Clare and whereas we mightn’t be able to facilitate a drive for someone from Portumna, we don’t turn people away if they want to avail of any of the other services we have.
“We get no state funding for what we do here so we have to fundraise for everything,” says Mary.
For more information on Gort Cancer Support, visit gortcancersupport.ie.
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.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
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
