Castlemaine man in cancer battle
A PAIN in his back was the first thing that alerted 23-year-old Timothy (Thady) O’Sullivan that something was wrong.
Weeks later his life was turned upside down when he was diagnosed with cancer.
This was just days before his birthday and on December 16, his 23rd birthday, the Castlemaine student began treatment at Cork University Hospital (CUH).
Since then Thady has been battling the aggressive cancer and he is hoping that he can fight off the disease.
“At first they thought it was lymphoma and then it came in as T-lymphoblastic lymphoma (T-LBL), which is more serious than first anticipated. There are around 60 types of lymphoma and some more are more treatable than others,” explained Thady.
Thady, who studied agricultural science at IT Tralee, had just moved to Kosice in Slovakia to study and fulfil his life-long dream of becoming a vet, when he first became ill.
For a number of weeks, his ordeal consisted of just a pain in his back and vomiting.
Thady was then admitted to hospital with Acute Renal Failure in Slovakia, but he had no idea what caused this serious condition.
He returned to Ireland to his family, and a few days later he got the shocking diagnosis of T-Cell Lymphoblastic lymphoma, which is a rare form of aggressive non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
“I just never thought it would be cancer. It was not a great prognosis when they told me first. They started me on treatment to see how I would react, and if I didn’t react it would have been a different story, but I was lucky.”
Since then, Thady has been bravely battling cancer amid the current COVID-19 pandemic, and the situation was made even worse without any family visits during this time. However, he has been able to come home for some weeks during the fivemonth hospital stay, which has kept his spirits up.
Next on the agenda for the Castlemaine man is a bone-marrow transplant. He will move to St
James’s Hospital in Dublin for the transplant and further treatment, which will include chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
“There is light at the end of the tunnel...I had a few scary months. December was a bad month,” he said.
However, despite the battle behind and ahead of him, he is remaining positive and is very grateful to the community, who have come out to support him as he battles the deadly disease.
The cost of treatment is high and will include the cost of living in Dublin for some time as he battles the disease. With this in mind, his friends and the local community have joined forces to help raise funds for Thady.
A number of fundraising pages have been set up to help raise the funds, including one by the Milltown-Castlemaine GAA club, as well as by friends.
“I want to say a big thank you for everyone’s support and everyone involved including family, friends and the wider community.”
Thady is the son of Angela and Michael
O’Sullivan from Rusheen in Castlemaine. He has a sister and brother, Noreen and Mikey Joe. He lost his uncle, He attended St Joseph’s’ National School in Castlemaine and later Milltown Presentation Secondary School. His primary school teacher, Brendan Dennehy, is involved in fundraising for the family, and he is urging everyone to donate.
The GoFundMe page is a way for the locality to help out a much-loved member of the community.
In just three days, almost €20,000 has already been raised in one of the fundraising pages for Thady. It had been hoped to hold events to raise the funds but COVID-19 halted those plans. Instead, Milltown-Castlemaine GAA club raised more than €5,400 though fundraising online. Friend Robert McCarthy raised more than €3,200 for him through ‘Top it for Thadi’, which saw him shave his head without the aid of a barber for Thady.
Thady has spent more than five months in hospital now, but he is hoping that in the future he will be back farming and will resume his studies to become a vet.
Mr Dennehy is urging everyone to help Thady in any way and said the amount raised in three days is testament to the community spirit. The Go Fund Me Page can be found at the Thady O’Sullivan Cancer Fund.