Mornington resident raises €41,000 for Crumlin Children’s Hospital
A year ago today Joe Hammel left his home in Mornington and took the first steps on a journey that was to change his life.
Joe had set himself a challenge to run ten kilometres every day for a full year to raise funds for Crumlin Children’s Hospital to thank them for saving his son’s life.
Yesterday he completed that challenge.
A year previously Joe’s life had already taken a turn that had knocked him and his wife Nicole for six when their beautiful son Joseph was diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer.
Overnight their idyllic life by the seaside was shattered and before they knew what was happening Joseph was fighting for his life in Crumlin Children’s Hospital with a huge tumour which was impacting on his left lung and putting pressure on his heart.
The next year was hellish for the Hammels, especially for Joseph who spent 121 days on chemotherapy and lost his left lung in the battle.
A walk in the park – Joe, Joseph and Nicole pictured together in Dominic’s Park on the final day of Joe’s challenge.
Thanks to the excellent care and treatment he received in Crumlin though, brave little Joseph pulled through and is now leading a normal life.
Needless to say his parents were both elated when, in December 2019, Joseph was given the all-clear after his tumour was removed by the country’s leading paediatric heart surgeon Mr Lars Nolke.
Joe wanted to do something to show his appreciation and also to raise some funds for the hospital that had saved his son’s life and he hit upon the idea of running ten kilometres every day for the next year.
Many doubted he would do it, and Joe himself admitted that there were times he could so easily have given up. Times such as the cold wet mornings in winter or when he was attacked by dogs on the empty golf course during lockdown.
But he kept on running and yesterday he finished his 365th consecutive daily 10k in the company of family and friends who joined him for his final “lap of honour” along the Boyne Greenway from Dominic’s Park to Oldbridge House and back.
After a short stop for photos on his return to Dominic’s Park Joe, his family and members of his “Saturday morning crew” made their way to the Black Bull Inn for a well-deserved beer.
The Saturday morning crew are members of the Drogheda and District Athletic Club who accompanied Joe every Saturday throughout the year and who, he said, got him through the winter months with their support and companionship.
Joe told Drogheda Life that the 12 months of running was an experience that would undoubtedly change his life.
I’ve learned so much from this experience” he said. “I honestly didn’t think that, as a man of 47, I would be able for such a challenge but the more I ran the more I learned about myself and the more confident I became that I could complete the task I had set myself.”
Joe said he had met so many wonderful people during his year’s running which had taken him to many different places both locally and also in such diverse areas as his native Wexford, the Hill of Tara during the summer solstice on June 21st and in the inner compound of Long Kesh.
“My initial focus was on raising money, and I’m delighted to have raised €41,000 and am hoping that that figure will increase, (donations can still be made at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/joehammel) but as time went on I was concentrating more on getting the job done.
Joe Hammel with three of the “Saturday morning crew”, members of the Drogheda and District Athletic Club, Unai Diaz, Catherine O’Neill and Ged Maher, who ran with him and helped him through his 365 ten kilometre runs.
“I have learned so much from this whole experience” he said. “My self confidence has received a huge boost, I know now that I can achieve things that before this I would have said were impossible.
“I have also got a greater understanding and appreciation for the support and love I receive from my family and friends. I know that Nicole and Joseph are both very proud of me and that gives me a great feeling.”
Joe went on to express his thanks to everyone who had supported him during the year but then the waiter arrived with a tray of drinks. I left him to enjoy a cold pint of Heineken in the Black Bull beer garden, after running over 3,650 kilometres, he deserved to enjoy it in peace.
