Brave Gareth’s engagement as he fights disease

DJ GARETH O’Callaghan, who has been diagnosed with a rare and incurable disease, has announced his engagement to his partner Paula Delaney.

The 57-year-old host announced the news on Twitter with a loved-up photo of himself and long-time other-half Paula, left.

The much loved DJ announced the news, saying: ‘I asked @PaulaDelaney53 to marry me this evening. She said YES! A very special Sunday evening.

‘It’s been a crazy time lately with lots of uncertainty. Everyone needs to know where they truly belong. That feeling is more important than anything else.’

The veteran DJ quit his show on Classic Hits FM several months ago after he received the devastating diagnosis of Multiple System Atrophy, a neurodegenerative illness with no known cure and no means to halt its progress.

Strengthened by the outpouring of support he received when the diagnosis was publicly revealed in January, Gareth was clearly determined to fight the disease.

Speaking about his illness in an interview with the Extra.ie website, Gareth said: ‘The thing is I have to avoid stress, which is easier said than done.

‘Life is stressful, full-stop, but radio can be enormously stressful — it’s our job to make it look really easy.’

He continued: ‘When I left the station I was working for in August, it was to enable the medication to try and take better effect.

‘There’s nothing I can do about the progress [of the illness] other than control resting, exercising when I can and being mindful of stress.’