Debbie is the heart of our family... the person everyone turns to when life goes wrong. She is fiercely intelligent, endlessly caring and extraordinarily generous, often helping people she has never even met simply because she believes no one should face hardship alone. Debbie has spent her life standing up for others and making the people around her feel stronger and less alone.

Five years ago Debbie faced one of the toughest battles imaginable when she was diagnosed with stage-4 Hodgkin’s lymphoma. True to form, she met it head-on with determination, humour and stubborn resilience... and she beat it. After everything she went through, we believed the worst was finally behind her.

But life has dealt Debbie another devastating blow.

At just 44 years old, Debbie has recently been diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour and underwent major brain surgery to remove as much of the tumour as possible. Now she will face months of radiation and chemotherapy.

What makes this diagnosis even harder to comprehend is that this tumour is completely unrelated to the cancer she fought before. There is no medical connection between Hodgkin’s lymphoma and this type of brain tumour.

This is simply cruel and extraordinary bad luck...twice!

Anyone who knows Debbie will know that she is not someone who quietly accepts defeat. She has already beaten cancer once and she is determined to fight again with everything she has.

Alongside the standard treatments, Debbie has the opportunity to access personalised immunotherapy abroad, such as Dendritic Cell Therapy. Doctors can create a vaccine from her own tumour tissue designed to train her immune system to recognise and attack the cancer over the long term. Emerging treatments like this offer real hope and the possibility of significantly extending survival.

Unfortunately this treatment is not currently available within the Irish health system, and accessing it means travelling abroad and paying privately for specialised care.

That is why we are asking for help.

We are hoping to raise around €250,000 to help Debbie access the specialised treatment and care she will need over the next couple of years. Our immediate goal is €95,000, which will help us cover the cost of her first personalised immunotherapy vaccine treatment and the travel required to access this care abroad. Any additional funds raised will go towards follow-up treatments, booster vaccines, medical travel and the ongoing care Debbie will need as she continues this fight.

We are trying to give Debbie the chance of many more years... years where she can keep standing up for people who have no voice, helping people laugh even in their darkest moments, and continuing to show up for the people who rely on her.

The truth is simple: the world is better with Debbie in it.

If you are able to donate, share this page, or spread the word, it would mean more to our family than we can ever express. Every contribution helps bring Debbie closer to accessing the treatment that could give her many more years.

Thank you for helping us fight for Debbie.