€10,000 target for heart transplant survivor Maurice as cancer returns
To say 53-year-old Maurice Kavanagh has been given the short end of the stick health-wise is an understatement.
Diagnosed with cancer when he was just 12 years old, after two years of chemo and radiotherapy, he was cancer free, but the scene was set for a lifetime of medical complications.
In the past 40 years, Maurice has undergone a complete heart transplant, two hip replacements, a kidney transplant, a leg amputation, and a bleed on the brain.
And now just last week, the Wicklow native was diagnosed with untreatable bladder cancer; so he and his partner Aoife Collins are trying to raise funds for a longed-for break for them both, as they don’t know how much time they have left together.
“Unfortunately, at the moment, there’s nothing they can do for the cancer because my immune system is not able for any treatment,” explains Maurice, who worked as a chef for over 25 years. “The doctors have told me there’s nothing they can do, so all I can do is get on with life, and to get away with Aoife for more than a few days would be a dream come true.”
Maurice is one of the country’s oldest surviving heart recipients and after a kidney transplant, requires dialysis three times a week for four hours at a time.
So every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday he needs to be in the local dialysis unit for his survival, meaning being away from home longer than three days is not an option.
“It used to be possible to organise dialysis for holidays at home and abroad through the amazing Irish Kidney Association but ever since COVID this hasn’t been possible,” explains Aoife, who was herself battling cancer when she met Maurice in 2016.
“As a result, we have never been away together for more than three nights, and then, never far. Every trip is bookended by dialysis so mentally and physically there is no escape”.
Aoife once owned a successful cake business in Drogheda and is also a talented glass designer, but her time is now taken up as Maurice’s fulltime carer.
“We have so much uncertainty in the future and really don’t know how much time we have left, so I am trying to raise €10,000 for Maurice to experience a proper holiday while he is still well enough to enjoy it,” she explains. “Dialysis and wheelchair accessibility are huge stumbling blocks, so we are hoping to go on a cruise, as dialysis can be scheduled into it and accessibility issues (like steps, hills, narrow doors etc) can be avoided.
“So Maurice can let his beard down, enjoy some sights, sunshine and a genuine proper break away from focusing on all medical things for a handful of precious days”.
Extra costs are incurred as Maurice and Aoife would have to bring medical staff along too, and insurance is hefty for trips like this.
“Doing dialysis on a ship adds thousands to the cost and we realise it is a lot to ask for people to help fund this, but Maurice has always kept such a positive attitude not matter what life has thrown at him, and I’d love him to have something to look forward to,” says Aoife.
Maurice doesn’t really mind where they go, but he says he would love somewhere warmer than Ireland!
“I’d love to feel a bit of heat on my bones, not too hot, but you get really cold doing the dialysis, so it would be lovely to have a bit of sunshine,” he says with a smile. “We only started the page a few days ago, but I have to say I am totally blown away at the generosity already of the people of Drogheda; many don’t know me from Adam but are giving their money to make my wish come true.” The couple’s positivity and resilience are truly remarkable, and Maurice says he does his best with everything he has had to face.
“I don’t want to start crying; I’ve been crying long enough, and I don’t want to go down that road, because if I start, I won’t stop,” says Maurice. “Serious illness just changes the way you look at life, it changes your perspective, but there’s nothing more I can do but get on with it, as I’ve been doing all my life.”
If you would like to make a donation visit www.gofundme. help-maurice