Yearly swim raises €177k for charity
A yearly charity swim in honour of a Carriglaline teenager, who passed away after a tough battle with leukaemia, has raised €177,000 since it began.
Christmas Day 2022 saw the 10th, and what would be the final, Danny Crowley Christmas Swim take place at Myrtleville Beach. Every year since 2012, Danny’s friends and family have braved the cold Atlantic water to raise vital funds for the Mercy Hospital Foundation’s Kids and Teens Appeal.
Danny’s family and friends gathered recently to announce that the 2022 swim raised €24,002.60 bringing the total funds raised over the 10 years of the event to a phenomenal €177,000.
After Danny passed away, his friends and family set up the Danny Crowley Christmas Swim as their way to remember him, while at the same time raising funds for the Mercy Kids and Teens Appeal, and in particular the Paediatric Outreach Oncology Nursing Service (POONS), which supports Cork’s youngest cancer patients.
POONS allows the Mercy University Hospital to deliver a home-based option to children like Danny, which enhances their quality of life and allows for some normalisation of family life during cancer treatment. It also means there is a reduction in hospital admissions, and promotes early discharge from the hospital.
Danny’s mom, Majella Crowley, said: “POONS and the entire team in the children’s leukaemia unit provided invaluable support to Danny and our family when Danny was undergoing his treatment. They went the extra mile, and we all appreciated the huge difference it made. The funds raised through the swim over the last 10 years ensure that families who find themselves in similar situations, have the support to help them on what is an incredibly difficult journey for any family to undertake.”
Speaking at the event, Olga Buckley, Paediatric Oncology/Haematology CNS in the Mercy University Hospital, who is one of the POONS team, said: “The funds raised by Danny’s family and friends over the last decade have made a tremendous difference to so many lives, and we would like to thank them from the bottom of our hearts.
“It costs the Mercy Hospital Foundation €30,000 each year to continue to keep this service mobile, and the Danny Crowley Christmas Swim has gone a huge way to ensuring this happens. Funds raised mean that POONS has continued to provide immeasurable support for some of Cork’s youngest patients and their families, with 45 families using the service in 2021 alone, with over 550 home visits carried out.”