Cancer research fundraiser will go on 'as long as necessary'
The owner of Blackwater Castle in Castletownroche, Patrick Nordstrom, is embarking on a fundraiser for cancer research which will continue for as long as it takes, or ‘as long as necessary, the rest of my life, perhaps’.
Mr Nordstrom’s late wife, Sheila, passed away in February 2023, one day shy of her 50th birthday having battled cancer for many years.
Earlier this month, the Finnish native embarked upon a motorcycle trip around Ireland, a trip which he filmed and is currently editing for publication at a later date. This element of the fundraiser is funded by Mr Nordstrom himself and will continue to be a workin-progress as he promotes the hidden parts of Ireland to a wider audience.
The primary bulk of any money raised - which on Tuesday this week had surpassed €5,000 - is for cancer research through the Irish Cancer Society, with 20% being donated to Milford Hospice where Sheila was cared for before she passed away.
Speaking with The Avondhu this week, Patrick accepts that any new therapies or drugs won’t now help his late wife, but that they shared a belief always that new drugs and new treatments for all varieties of illness and ailments are being developed all the time and their hope was that one day cancer would be defeated too. It was his 60th birthday on April 3rd and he purposefully choose to be on his motorbike trip during that time specifically, as the ‘only person I wanted to spend it with, I couldn’t’, referring to his late wife.
“Many things made her special. When she was initially diagnosed with stage four cancer, she was given a prognosis of less than a year. Our youngest was only six months old then and she wanted her to remember her; she then fought it for 13 and a half years. Everything she did was 100%; she had grit and willpower”.
Patrick had approached both the Irish Cancer Society and Milford Hospice in Limerick on Tuesday this week in order to make arrangements for the first donations: €4,000 to the Irish Cancer Society and €1,000 for Milford.
“This campaign can only end when the target is achieved and will go on as long as is necessary, for the rest of my life perhaps. I’ve been highly privileged to know my greatest love, my best friend, and my soulmate. When she passed she took half of me. If it wasn’t for my youngest I would have stayed in bed, but I get up every day and raise and prepare her for life”.
Referring to Sheila’s daily battle with her disease at the time, Patrick says it is inspiration to live as she did.
“When you have experience of someone fighting every day… I can’t let her down and I do that by giving purpose to my life and giving value to my life. As a parent, you have to lead by example and do what you believe in”.
Donations can be made to the ongoing fundraiser at GoFundMe, by searching for ‘ Sheila’s Campaign against Cancer’. Updates on Patrick’s motorbike tour will also be made available in the future on social media and through the Blackwater
Castle website.