New bus to ease journeys to Cork for cancer patients
Mayor of Tralee Ted Fitzgerald launching the Kerry Cancer Support Group's new bus in Tralee. Included are, from left; Teddy Murphy, Mort Galvin, Tim Corkery, Liam Gowan, Ted Fitzgerald, Mary O'Connor, John O'Shea and Chris Adair. Credit: Photo: Frank O'Connor
Wednesday May 13 2009
MEMBERS of Kerry Cancer Support Group gathered in Tralee last week to look at the new bus aimed to ease the tiring journey to Cork for cancer patients.
This properly facilitated bus will ensure a more comfortable journey both up and down from Cork after treatments according to Murt Galvin.
Murt, originally from Sneem now living in Strand Road, Tralee, a cancer survivor and member of The Kerry Cancer Support Group, knows only too well of the tiring journey to Cork for cancer treatments by bus.
"I started my chemo treatment in 1999 and had to travel by bus to do so. It can take up to three hours to get to Cork and after my treatment I was very sick and the journey home was terrible as the bus system I was using had no proper facilities. So myself and fellow cancer survivor Tim Corkery thought we would do something to rectify the problem," said Murt.
"Myself and Tim are members of M.A.C. (Men Against Cancer), and we had a meeting up in Cork as we wanted to help the Kerry patients get suitable transport for the journey. As O'Shea's of Kerry are across the road from our office in Forge Cross we decided to hire a bus complete with toilets, a ramp, blankets, pillows, TV monitors and a fridge for cold drinks to make the trip as comfortable as possible," added Murt.
"At the moment we are waiting for the list of Kerry patients to come through so we can arrange the travel timetable and our route will start off in North Kerry, Abbeyfeale and Listowel to Tralee onto Killorglin then Kilarney and we will stop off by the church at Glenflesk for South Kerry and Rathmore patients, the patients will be dropped off and collected at the hospital and I have recieved two calls about it so far and we will be fundraising as much as we can also," said Murt.
Anyone interested in information on the service can contact the Kerry Cancer Support Group on (066) 71 95560.
- LORRAINE WALSH lwalsh@kerryman.ie
