Brendan in online game marathon for Macmillan
WEST Belfast man Brendan Mckiernan has raised more than £4,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support by staging a 24hour gaming challenge online and topping the event’s Top Ten Fundraiser’s board.
Brendan (26) was taking part in Game Heroes, a Macmillan fundraising event online, to raise money for the charity that supported him and his family after a shock cancer diagnosis last year.
After discovering that he had Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia, he spent many difficult months in hospital receiving radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatment, followed by a bone marrow transplant.
As a thank you to Macmillan for providing both he and his family with emotional and practical support, Brendan began his challenge last Friday night.
Having set up live-streaming, Brendan’s friends joined in at various stages of the 24-hour marathon to keep in touch and provide much needed inspiration and motivation when his concentration was beginning to lag.
Brendan said: “I’m living at home at the minute so Mum, Dad and my brother were also there to keep me going. They would pop their heads around the door
to let me know when donations were coming in thick and fast, to keep me focussed on the reason I was sitting in front of a screen for 24 hours!
“I had a lot of help from Macmillan in terms of my physical and mental health and wellbeing, as did my family, and I really wanted to raise as much money as possible to make sure that others could continue to receive the help that we did.
“Cancer changes everything and it’s not until you go through what we did last year that you realise just how important it is to get help,” Brendan added.
While he was being treated in hospital, unable to leave, Brendan’s games console provided much-needed distraction and was part of the reason he chose to take part in Game Heroes.
He added: “I genuinely can’t believe how much we’ve raised so far.
“I won’t lie, there were a few tears but to know that we’ve been able quadruple the initial target of £1,000 and help other people living with cancer in NI is just a fantastic feeling.”
The fundraising has hit £4,105 and is still live at https://gameheroes.macmillan.org.uk/fundraising/brendan2020