Mother to run marathon in memory of children
A BRAVE Irish mum who lost three children to a chronic lung disease will run the New York marathon alongside her son who received a double lung transplant after being diagnosed with the same condition.
Kathleen Crosby (61), from Kingscourt, Co Cavan, flew out to the Big Apple yesterday with her son David (42), his wife Katie and family members to take on the arduous run tomorrow in aid of the Mater Hospital’s lung transplant unit.
David is amazingly undertaking the huge challenge, just 20 months after his life-saving double lung transplant – his only chance after he was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, an irreversible condition that causes scarring and hardening of the lungs.
Kathleen had already lost three children to the lung disorder.
So when David became sick, she sensed the horror had returned.
“I was devastated. It was horrendous actually.
“Words couldn’t describe how bad things were that day,” she said. “I still remember the day he came home after tests and said two words about oxygen exchange.
“After that it was all a blank to me.
“I kind of knew then what he had, even though he told me to stop staring at him as he only had a cold,” she added.
David acknowledges his “amazing” mum had a huge part to play, alongside his wife Katie and his children, in his own strength and determination to get through his illness and recovery.
“We are doing this to raise money for the Mater Hospital’s lung transplant unit and its research in association with Cystic Fibrosis Ireland,” said David, ahead of his first-ever marathon.