Fiadh fundraiser reaches €400,000 target
As the massive fundraising campaign to send a five-year old girl with strong Offaly roots to the United States for life saving treatment reached its target of €400,000 over the weekend, her grandmother has praised the “generosity and kindness” shown to the family.
Mary Dempsey from Killellery, Geashill is the grandmother of little Fiadh Ronan, who was diagnosed with a very rare form of childhood cancer, Stage 4 High-Risk Neuroblastoma, in October 2023. Over the past ten days, Fiadh's story has captured the hearts of the nation as her parents, Anne Marie Dempsey and Kerry native, Frank Ronan, set up a GoFundMe campaign to send their beloved eldest child to the United States for treatment aimed at keeping her childhood cancer at bay.
In a Facebook post, Anne Marie's mother, Mary, said the family have been “overwhelmed” at the generosity and kindness shown to them by friends, neighbours, the people of Offaly and the nation after the campaign to raise €400,000 reached its target over the weekend.
“We are overwhelmed by the generosity and kindness of friends, neighbours, people of Offaly and the nation, you got behind this worthy cause, to get our special little girl Fiadh to America for maintenance treatment. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts” said Mary Dempsey in the post on the campaign fundraising page 'Together for Fiadh.'
One of the many fundraising events which was instrumental in enabling the Ronan family to reach their fundraising target was a full day of events in Wolfgang Barbers in Tullamore yesterday (Sunday) which raised a whopping €6,110.70.
The team from Wolfgang Barbers who were providing haircuts throughout the day were joined by local music sensations, Chasing Abbey, for an acoustic session, while two local businesses, Conway & Co and Sami from Patrick Street Italian restaurant, Siroccos, also sold fresh pizza, coffee and pastries for the huge numbers who turned up to support the fundraiser. Group fundraising was also organised at yesterday's event by Ger Walsh and friends, and the proceeds from the day succeeded in bringing the fundraising target for the 'Together for Fiadh' campaign up to €400,000.