Clare Clarke/Climb4Clare
Being diagnosed with an aggressive cancer at any age is heartbreaking both for the patient and the family, but when you’re a young mum, having to explain the diagnosis to your children can be even more agonising. Such was the dilemma facing Clare Clarke who at the age of 29 was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer that had spread to her lymph nodes.
Her friend and neighbour Wendy Scanlon explains more: “Clare underwent surgery and chemotherapy but one of her main worries was how she could explain to her girls, Katie, who was nine at the time, and Ava, who was just a baby.”
Aggressive treatment helped, and Clare was cancer-free for four years. Sadly it came back, and this time with secondaries in her lung and her leg, and eventually going to her brain, spine, and liver.
“Clare wanted to get support for her children after diagnosis but when she went for help, she found that only one cancer centre in Tuam and one in Northern Ireland had a CLIMB programme (Children’s Lives Include Moments of Bravery) where children between the ages of 5 and 12 are given help to deal with a family member’s cancer diagnosis,” Wendy explains. “Clare was shocked at the lack of support and decided to help. And so Climb4Clare was born as the brave young woman decided to bring the help she needed to Dublin and throughout the rest of Ireland so other families could get the advice and support that they needed.
Everyone rallied round to make Clare’s dream to make it happen. Clare gave a speech at The Ladies Gaelic Football Association Annual Congress, made an appeal at the 2014 TG4 All Star Awards and appeared on Ireland AM in November 2014.
“Thanks to Clare’s efforts, CLIMB is now in 22 out of 35 cancer centres,” says Wendy. “The aim is to have the programme available in all of the 35 cancer care centres nationwide. The programme helps children with their feelings of anger, sadness and fear in different ways and lets them mix and speak with other children who are going through the same thing.”
Sadly, on the day the first facilitators finished their training, which was funded by Clare’s efforts, Clare passed away at the age of 35 with her family round her. “Clare leaves behind a huge legacy,” says Wendy, who also lost her mother at the age of 12 to cancer. “She amazes me how brave she was and how she turned a tough experience into a positive thing. She spent her time fighting for her family and other families. If only I had someone like that helping me and my mother when she was diagnosed with cancer. I have no doubt every cancer patient with young children is grateful for Clare’s work in providing them and their kids with support.”
