06 October 2014

Saturday 1st November will see hundreds of thrill seekers get down and dirty at D’hillbillies Mud Run in Mitchelstown, raising funds for cancer services at The Mercy University Hospital Cork.

Participants can choose to tackle either 6km or 12km of mucky fun which will see them run, crawl and scramble over obstacles throughout the wet and wild course at Gortnahown Farm overlooking the Galtee Mountains. D’hillbillies Mud Run is designed for anyone over 16 with a reasonable level of fitness looking for a bit of fun. Entry is €35 per person, and is open to individuals and teams.

All funds raised through the Mud Run, which is being organised by Mitchelstown Lions Club, will help The Mercy Hospital Foundation continue to make strides in cancer care at The Mercy University Hospital. The Mercy Cancer Appeal aims to raise €2.5 million by 2016 to fund key services and advancements in the treatment of and research into many cancers. In Ireland 30,000 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed by the end of 2014 and that number is expected to rise to over 40,000 by 2020. For those people in Munster diagnosed with cancer, The Mercy will be at the forefront of diagnosis, research, treatment and care.

€1 million is required to fund the development of The Mercy Cancer Care Centre. This centre based on the grounds of the Hospital will provide a quiet, safe place for patients and families dealing with a cancer diagnosis to come to receive support through their cancer journey.

The Mercy University Hospital's Centre for Gastroenterology has been identified as one of the National Bowel Screening Centres and is the Regional Centre for Gastroenterology for Cork and Kerry. €500,000 is required to support the diagnosis, treatment, and research into Bowel, Oesophageal, Stomach and Pancreatic Cancers at the Hospital. A €150,000 grant will enable research into Pancreatic and Liver cancers which will be invaluable in the future to researchers as they develop new treatments for these cancers. The appeal will also continue to provide funding for the very successful Rapid Access Clinic for patients with cancers of the prostate, kidney, bladder, testes and penis, as well as continued support for cancer patients and their families while being treated at the Hospital.

Therese Horgan, President, Mitchelstown Lions Club spoke about the organisations involvement in D’hillbillies Mud Run “Since the foundation of Mitchelstown Lions Club in 1979, our members have served the local community and worked with charities and voluntary organisations. We were approached by the Keane family, whose father James was treated for cancer in The Mercy, who asked us to help them organise a mud run locally as a way to raise funds for the hospital, and in a way ‘pay it back’ for the care their father received through his cancer journey. For the past few years D’hillbillies Barn Dance has taken place at Lions Club member, Billy O’Donovan’s farm, who has kindly agreed to host the Mud Run – hence the name, D’hillbillies Mud Run. We are grateful to Billy and the local Curraghagalla community, and our main sponsors Mitchelstown Credit Union and Dairygold Co-Op Society who are supporting the event.”

James Keane, 66, from Mitchelstown was treated at The Mercy after being diagnosed with a cancerous tumour between his stomach and bowel in 2012. James said “I was operated on at The Mercy on 12/12/12, and have been attending the hospital for monthly check ups since. My family and I wanted to show our appreciation to The Mercy for the excellent care I received under Dr Tom Murphy, Dr Derek Power and their team, before, during and after my operation. My sons Willie and Philip regularly compete in mud runs nationwide, and we decided this, with the help of Mitchelstown Lions Club, would be a great way to help raise vital funds for cancer care at The Mercy.”

Deirdre Finn, Community and Events Fundraiser, The Mercy Hospital Foundation added “Our mission is to support the Hospital in delivering the highest quality of patient care by raising funds to support advancements and innovation in the treatment and care of patients at the Mercy Hospital, the People’s Hospital. We promise to do our very best to provide you with a world class hospital, right on your doorstep, and this is only possible through the help of our supporters and donors, like Mitchelstown Lions Club who have put Trojan work into organising D’hillbillies Mud Run on November 1st.”

D’hillbillies Mud Run takes place at Gortnahown Farm, approximately 1km from Junction 13 off the M8 motorway, just 30 minutes from Cork City, 1 hour from Waterford City, 1 and quarter hours from Limerick City, and 2 hours from Dublin

For more information see www.mudrun.mitchelstownlionsclub.ie. Registration is essential, and those interest can sign up online at www.mercyfundraising.ie or by calling (021) 4274076.