Fermoy head shave and spin session in aid of Marymount
Rathcormac local Patty Smyth will take to the streets of Fermoy on Friday where she is going to have her head shaved and complete two hours of spinning on a spin bike in an effort to raise funds for Marymount Hospice.
In June last year, Patty’s brother PJ Delaney passed away at Marymount Hospice after a brief battle with cancer.
“He was only at Marymount overnight but I was blown away by the kindness, attention and professionalism that the staff at Marymount showed my brother in his final moments,” Patty said.
PJ was a well-known postman in the Fermoy area, however, his health had taken a turn for the worst in recent years, seeing him step back from the job.
“He had three ministrokes while he was on holidays in Turkey three or four years ago. He recovered well from that and things started looking up but then he found out he had cancer.
“On his 59th birthday, he was given a great send-off. Postal workers brought vans from near and far and Fermoy Fire Brigade drove a truck through the town. He was living on Pike Road and they really gave him a great send-off,” Patty said.
May 2nd saw PJ's post office colleagues came out in force to pay tribute to him for his birthday. At the time, PJ had been out of work for a number of months due to ill health, but those at the post office, members of Fermoy Fire Brigade and Fermoy GAA made the day a special one for him with a drive-by salute.
Last year, Patty held a similar fundraiser online in which she live-streamed getting her head shaved and did a Spin Challenge in aid of Cork University Hospital where PJ was undergoing treatment for cancer at the time. She raised €2,600 for the cause with donations coming from as far as Australia, America and England, however, the majority of donations came from people in the locality.
When asked whether she was nervous about doing the fundraiser in public this year, Patty said she had ‘no nerves’, but that she ‘hadn’t given it much thought’.
BUCKET COLLECTIONS
On this Friday (March 11), Patty will have her head shaved outside Fermoy Post Office by local hairdresser Trudy O’Brien of Manor Beauty in Rathcormac.
“My brother was a postman so I wanted to include his former colleagues,” Patty added.
The fundraiser will then move to Centra where Patty plans on doing two hours of spinning on the Spin Bike.
In her teens, Patty had been a middle to long-distance athlete and had won Munster cross-country titles at U16 and senior level. Some ten years ago, she became involved in resistance training and spinning, and has been training this way ever since.
“I rented a spin bike over the lockdown and did a few online classes and then I started doing my own thing. I kept that up and now I go to the gym in Mallow three days a week for strength training and I’ve bought the bike and I train on that two or three times a week. I’ve become a lot fitter and I’ve lost a lot of weight.
“I’m hoping to go live on Facebook with the head shave and at around 3 o’clock I’m hoping to go live at Centra with a song as a tribute to my brother,” Patty added.
Bucket collections will take place on the day in line with the event which takes place outside Fermoy Post Office from 10am to 1pm and near Centra from 2pm to 4pm.
An online fundraiser has also been set up for the cause and donations can be made at www. idonate.ie/PattySmyth
“I’m hoping it will go well. I’ll have maybe six bucket collectors on the day so hopefully, we can make a nice little sum for Marymount Hospice,” she concluded.