THE annual 'Donuts for Donors' appeal – organised in memory of a young West Belfast cancer battler who passed away in 2019 – will take place this month in a bid to raise awareness of stem cell donation.
Organised by Seán Smyth, whose daughter Eimear Gooderham (née Smyth) died on the 27 June 2019, this year's appeal will involve a 'Donut and Gin' walk departing from the Falls Park on January 28 at 3.30pm.
Walkers will head towards Taboo Donuts on Ann Street before heading to the Sunflower Pub for refreshments, including the exclusive Eimear's Wish Gin, which was created to raise money and awareness of stem cell donation.
Donuts and gin were fond favourites of Eimear, who was diagnosed with stage two Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a type of blood cancer in September 2016.
After finding a stem cell donor match, Eimear successfully underwent a transplant in November 2018, but sadly passed away following complications.
Throughout her illness, the Coolnasilla woman fought to raise awareness of stem cell donation alongside her family, who established the Eimear’s Wish campaign to continue her work.
Speaking about the 'Donuts for Donors' campaign, Seán said he wanted to use the event to highlight cases like that of young Jack Stevens, who passed away in November, and that of Antrim boy Olcán Wilkes, who is currently waiting on a stem cell donor.
"I want to use it to highlight what happened to young Jack, and what is happening to young Olcán, and the fact that there is going to be another 30 families this year who are going to need a stranger to donate their stem cells," he said.
"The sad thing about it is that there are only 2.7 per cent of the population here registered as stem cell donors. That's about 57,000 out of around 1.9 million people. A match could be out there."
Seán said the Donuts for Donors appeal is a fun way to raise awareness about organ donation.
"For the sponsored walk we're going to have a wee gin and tonic before we set off, we'll walk to Ann Street and have a donut, and then we'll walk round to the Sunflower. It's a bit of fun and a bit of craic," he said.
"It's not really about the money, it's about the awareness. More than anything we need people who are willing to sit for a few hours and donate their stem cells."
For more information about the Donuts for Donors walk contact Eimear's Wish on Twitter or Facebook.
Meanwhile, Eimear's Wish raised £2,000 after teaming up with Murray and Co Jewellers in Belfast to exchange broken gold for cash.
Money raised from the scrap gold was shared equally between the Friends of Cancer Centre Belfast, Action Cancer, Anthony Nolan Trust and Eimear's Wish.
