‘No amount of money could repay the comfort the team provided to my family’

A personal trainer from Duleek has organised a fitness event to raise funds for a palliative care service that helped look after his father in the last few weeks of his life. Rathkenny man Tommy Martin (66) passed away last year after a long and brave fight with cancer and son Ronan (31) is keen to mark his one year anniversary by paying tribute to and raising vital funds for Meath Palliative Care who he says the family couldn’t have done without during those tough final days.

“Dad was diagnosed with gallbladder cancer initially in December 2015 and he was cleared of it twice but then it came back a third time and we were told that there wasn’t much hope. His final wish was to come home and only for the palliative care team it wouldn’t have happened. He was going rapidly downhill in the hospital getting worse and worse. Having the team there meant that he could be in his own bed and not in a hospital ward. He was so much more comfortable at home. If we weren’t able to deliver that, it would have been hard to accept. He just wanted to be home.

“The palliative care team was amazing. There was no such thing as a stupid question, they were so patient. They had a very personal approach. They spent nine months coming to us and they became part of the family.”

Ronan got married to his wife Melissa last year and says he will be forever grateful to the carer that helped his dad be fit enough to attend, 

'Cardio For Care' takes place on the 24th of August 

“David from the palliative care team got my father ready so he could actually do the speech. David told me after he died that there was a plan in place between him and dad to get him ready for the wedding. I didn’t know at the time, it was kept private between my father and David. He had discussed with David that he wanted to be ok on the day and then David prioritised that, making sure he had certain medication on certain days. There was nothing left to chance.

“Being a carer is a vocation rather than a job. They were a great comfort blanket and peace of mind and were always just a phone call away.”

Ronan is hosting ‘Cardio For Care’, a day of free fitness classes for all fitness levels in Forge Fitness Gym in Duleek on Saturday the 24th of August. 

“I wanted to do something to mark his first year anniversary on the 26th of September. I’m doing it to give back, no amount of money could repay the comfort they provided to my family in the last 20 days, I’ll never forget it. We were expecting our first baby, Rían, at the time and we were able to tell my father and show him scans at home. I’ll always have that memory. He knew there was a baby on the way but we knew in our hearts he’d never meet him.

“Other people fundraised over the last few years and put us in a position to have that precious time at home. We got the benefits of somebody else and I feel it’s my turn to raise funds so they can help other families. I had heard of Meath Palliative Care before but until it comes to your door you don’t realise what they do. Money raised will go directly to families in the county. There could be somebody down the road that money might go towards.

Ronan describes his dad as someone who was immersed in community and family life,

The Rathkenny native works with TV presenter Kathryn Thomas on her 'Pure Results' bootcamp

“He was heavily involved with Rathkenny GFC, he was my manager when I played as a youngster and he was still a selector up until two or three years ago. Even the day of the funeral the guard of honour was the biggest ever seen in the area.

“The name of my business F3 Fitness which is a nod to dad. When I was finishing up the personal training course and I was trying to think of a name for the business I remembered the parish priest being in the house the night before the funeral to get a few stories and my mam said that all dad lived for was the three fs, family, faith and football. It’s my way of remembering him and the three important things in his life.

“He lived for the garden and being out with the grandkids. It's hard because he loved this time of year and the kids are still out in the garden but they are pushing themselves on the swing now. It’s the little things that you miss like being at football games or being up at Croke Park is strange without him because he loved GAA so much.

“He never complained once. Even the day of the wedding, he never once referenced himself in the speech, he never wanted anything to be about him. Even in the last few days, he’d still have a smile or a joke.”

The Rathkenny native is looking forward to the fitness fundraiser having trained in the last few years to follow his dream of becoming a personal trainer. He is now involved with TV personality Kathryn Thomas’s ‘Pure Results’ fitness retreats. 

The late Tommy Martin was a man of 'family, faith and football'

“I reached out and sent them an email to say if any opportunities came up I’d love to be involved and they actually got back to me which I wasn’t expecting. I met with Kathryn on an evening last year and I started doing the camps.

“Becoming a personal trainer is always something that I wanted to do and it was only when you get a reality check like with the news of my father that you think that life’s too short to keep putting things off until next year.” 

For more information go to the ‘F3 Fitness’ page on Facebook.