Graham supports wheelie good cause
Doctors, nurses and staff will be swapping the intensive care unit for the great outdoors next month for four worthy charities.
Intensive Care Unit (ICU) doctors, nurses and staff from all over Ireland are taking part in the ICU 4 U charity cycle to Dublin from 3-4 September which aims to raise at least €100,000 for Alone, Breakthrough Cancer Research, Aware and ICUsteps - an ICU patient aftercare support.
ICU 4 U Ambassador Graham Norton launched the campaign and said: “The entire nation is grateful to these incredible doctors and their teams who have been working tirelessly in the ICU to keep our most vulnerable safe. But the modest bunch who have been putting their lives at risk throughout this pandemic say it’s just their job and I applaud them for leading the way in putting the public focus back on supporting charities who badly need funding.”
Other ambassadors have come on board to help promote the charity initiative, including champion Olympic rower Paul O’Donovan, and hotelier and TV personality John Brennan, who has been cocooning with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
Chief organiser of the cycle, Dr Patrick Seigne, Consultant Intensivist at CUH ICU, said: “Many ICU staff are uncomfortable with being put up on a pedestal during the crisis, as we are just doing our jobs albeit in challenging times.
“We are extremely grateful for the gifts we received from the public but we need to put the focus back where it is most needed – with the patients and charities.
“The impact of Covid-19 reaches far beyond the ICU, and we are only beginning to see the secondary challenges, in particular with the elderly, those in nursing homes, those experiencing anxiety and mental illness, Covid-19 ICU survivors, and cancer patients who are particularly vulnerable to the virus, have had their diagnosis delayed, and urgently need new treatments.”
The two-day ICU 4 U Cycle, cognisant of any restrictions that will be in place in any county due to Covid-19, will start from five locations: Cork, Belfast, Galway, Limerick and Waterford. It will end in the Phoenix Park in Dublin where the teams of 15 cyclists will meet and cycle together towards Áras an Uachtaráin. A smaller group will then cycle on through central Dublin to the College of Anaesthesiology of Ireland in Merrion Square.
The team has already raised more than half of the €100,000 target thanks to the support from various sponsors.