The Aura Leisure Centre in Letterkenny are hosting a 5k walk/run for a great cause on Tuesday 28th June.
The Aura are calling on members and the public to take part on the 28th at 7:30pm, starting at Aura Letterkenny to raise money for cancer treatment for former Aura team member Karen.
Karen, who lives in America, is suffering from colon cancer and her former colleagues are trying to raise funds to help pay for her treatment.
Karen is also the daughter of Louise McDermott who also works in the Aura and is a well-known face of Letterkenny locals.
Karen said: “I started to have extreme abdominal pain in may of 2020 and after multiple emergency room visits, I was finally referred at my persistent requests for a colonoscopy in October 2021.
“Unfortunately the colonoscopy could not be completed because of a tumour blocking my entire descending colon, a biopsy was taken and the following day, as I was closing the store, a phonemail from my doctor confirmed the worst.
“Two weeks later I had a 7 hour surgery to remove the tumour along with a foot of my colon. Recovery was difficult but swift, I was back on my feet and ready for chemotherapy which I started mid November.
“The community I thought I had left when I immigrated, stretched out their arms across the Atlantic at the time when I most needed it. To say that this situation hasn’t made me consider moving back home would be a lie. I am more homesick than ever since being separated from my family for nearly three years but for now, while my cancer care team are here, I feel bound to this country and unfortunately their healthcare system for now.”
Registration for the 5k is €10 online or €12 at the Aura Leisure Centre reception.
To sign up online, click here, and you can find out more information about Karen’s story here.
