26-05-2025
Charity event to raise funds for palliative care unit in Kerry
Family and friends of a young girl who died from a rare form of cancer are to hold a charity bike ride to help raise funds for a palliative care unit in Kerry and Tipperary.
Lily Anna Sebestova, aged 10, from Tralee passed away on November 15, 2024, after a three-year battle with cancer.
Lily had donated her hand for cancer research to help others during her illness.
Her heartbroken mother Lorraine told the Irish Examiner how the family was forced to live apart during her daughter's treatment in Dublin due to a lack of facilities closer to home.
'We practically lived in Dublin', she said. 'Lily suffered and that broke us all up."
We were living like a separated family. I was in Dublin and my husband was in Kerry with our son.
Ms Sebestova vowed that she would try and 'help others' just as her daughter wanted by highlighting the long distance they were forced to travel due to a lack of palliative care services in Munster.
Now, a group of bike riders have launched a fundraiser, 'Eastbound and Down' in aid of the Kerry Hospice Foundation and Cashel Ward Palliative Care suite.
The non-stop 1,500km ride will take place over a 24-hour period from July 4, beginning in Dunmore Head and finishing at Kerry General Hospital.
Writing on their Idonate and Facebook page, the group said: 'Last year we raised just under €10,000 for the Kerry Hospice Foundation but this year we are raising much needed funds for a new much needed cause as well as the Kerry hospice foundation.
'The Cashel ward palliative care suite , a place where children can go if needed.
Unfortunately, cancer touches every house at one time or another and we need to help out to raise funds to make their last days more comfortable for those suffering.
'So, our run leaves at 11am from Dunmore head in Dingle, we go to Malin Head, Burr Point, Mizen Head, and back to the Kerry General Hospital in 24 hours non-stop riding, 6 of us on motorbikes which will be tracked by Fleet Data so you can follow us as we are moving.
'This run is in honour of a little girl we lost last year to the dreaded cancer, Lily Anna Sebestova, please donate and share this page far and wide'.
Lily Anna Sebestova, aged 10, from Tralee passed away on November 15, 2024, after a three-year battle with cancer.
Lily battled hard against alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma - a rare and aggressive form of cancer.
The tumour is extremely fast growing and usually occurs in teenagers and young adults and spreads widely at an early stage.
Her mother said 'everything went against us' even the form of cancer her daughter suffered.
'It was so rare I didn't even have another parent to talk to about it' she said.
She described her daughter as a 'firecracker' and the 'biggest advocate for herself in her journey in cancer'.
'Her diagnosis did not stop her,' she said.
'She had her hand amputated and by the time we were home she was down looking for pancakes and she was whisking the batter next to me five days later.
'She was an inspiration. From day one, she took on board what was given to her, and even though we cried, and we carried this pain, she did it. She donated her hand; she signed that paper in the hopes of changing lives. She did that.'
