Hair today, gone tomorrow for CF
It is hard to recognise Wexford man Shane O’Neill from Michael Street as he has been growing out his beard for the past year to raise money for two great charities.
Shane was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis when he was a baby and has decided to grow a long beard to fundraise for Cystic Fibrosis Ireland and the Tracey Lawlor Trust.
‘I was never admitted into hospital for any complications until I was 20, you could say I am on the healthy side of it. I am on no medication, only inhalers,’ said Shane, who is now 35 years old.
Shane has been growing his beard since July 2016 and said he ‘can’t wait to get rid of it’, especially since we are in the summer months.
The life expectancy of someone with cystic fibrosis is 40, but Shane is one of the luckier ones as he is does not need to be on the lung transplant list.
‘I want to do this as many people are on the waiting list and others can’t even afford the new drug that they have launched for fibrosis,’ said Shane.
Two of Shane’s friends, Eoin McMahon and Paddy Murphy ,have jumped on the bandwagon and have been growing their beards since January but all will be shaved off July 28 at 10 p.m. in the Wexford Golf Club.
Shane said: ‘Everyone is welcome. There will also be an Open 4 golf competition running all day as well. It is €20 for non-members and €10 for members with all proceeds split in half.’
To donate towards the charities, people can visit Shane’s GoFundMe page ‘Shane’s Yeard for CF’, where he has raised over €1,600 already.