Cork teen raises €13k for MS in mum’s honour

WHEN Ciarán Coakley was born, his parents were told he might not live to see his fifth birthday.

“He was diagnosed at birth with a rare mitochondrial disorder,” says his mum, Catriona, of Clonakilty, who is a mother of five.

“Ciarán was very sick as an infant, and we were constantly up and down to Temple Street Hospital in Dublin.

“I thought, ‘Oh my God, he’ll never do this or never do that, or never play GAA’. I thought, he’ll never see the age of 5, 10 or 15,” says Catriona.

But Ciarán, now 17, a determined young man, defied the odds.

"He is thriving, a 5th year student at Clonakilty Community College, and he is a budding sportsman. He’s a cracking footballer and hurler,” says proud Catriona.

Not only does he excel at school and at sports, but Ciarán excels at going that extra mile for people who matter to him. One of those is his mother, who has multiple sclerosis (MS).

“She struggles with pain from when she wakes up to when she goes to sleep,” says Ciarán. 

I wanted to make a difference to the lives of people who have MS, including my own mother.

So, he embarked on a 10km run a day, completing 250km for MS Ireland, to support his mother after she was diagnosed. He set out to raise €1,000 and ended up raising €13,000!

“He’s seen me struggle with so much stuff and is doing so well himself - so he just wanted to help,” says Catriona. 

“My dad died six days before I got married to Don. We’ve had awful bad luck since then.”

She recalls how she realised she wasn’t well, after Ella, her youngest daughter, was born 12 years ago.

“I had symptoms I just couldn’t piece together,” Catriona says.

“During Covid, I was home-schooling the children and noticed I was having difficulties with my vision. 

I remember Don was out of work and we were all bogged down. It was a mad time.

Catriona went to her GP when she lost her vision in her left eye and was in pain.

“Everything kicked off, the pieces came together when I was finally diagnosed with MS three years ago.

“Previously, I thought I might be suffering from optical neuritis, an inflammation of the optic nerve. Over the course of several years, I had a loss of vision. It would come back, often just black and white vision. When I got back 20/20 vision, I was relieved, hoping it wasn’t MS and I’d be grand.”

After having a lumbar puncture, a diagnostic test for MS, it was confirmed that she had the illness.

“It was an utter shock,” Catriona says. “The doctor rang me, and I heard the news over the phone. Six days later, an MS nurse sat at my kitchen table to explain things and five weeks later I started injections three days a week for 14 months.”

Since being diagnosed, Catriona has been through several rounds of treatments.

“I had to have injections three times a week and there were awful side effects, horrible things,” she says. “When I had an MRI at the 12-month mark, the results showed I wasn’t getting any better.”

Catriona is now undergoing a different treatment, which entails an infusion in hospital every six months.

“When I had an MRI scan in January, it showed things were looking a little better. But nothing concrete yet.”

Catriona, having a busy household with a husband and their five children, got on with things.

“I seemed more stable and everyday life got easier. I still got eye pain and headaches,” she says.

I suffered leg pain and leg spasms at night. When the leg relaxes, the spasms take off. The medication brought its own problems.

Her son decided to do something concrete; something worthwhile.

“Ciarán saw me going through the tough course of treatment, and decided he wanted to help,” Catriona says. 

“Last November, he said he’d love to do something for MS Ireland.”

Plans were afoot.

“Ciarán surprised me out of the blue with his plans,” says Catriona. “He asked me if I’d share his latest Instagram post. I had a look, and it was the GoFundMe.”

She was concerned.

“I said, ‘Look at the picture you’ve used of me. Isn’t there a better one?”

Ciarán replied: “Make do with what you have, girl!”

Intent on doing something for people with MS, the teenager got going on his mission to raise €1,000 by running 10km a day for 25 days.

“Ciarán is a determined young man,” says Catriona.

And she is a determined lady.

“I don’t have to use any mobility aids,” she says. If the washing piles up, I don’t fret. I do what I can for Don and the kids. I do the household basics - and if not, tough luck.

“Morning time is the killer with the leg pain. I do everything on a reduced scale. Fortunately, I know MS Ireland is there for me for when I need it.”

Catriona says of her daily pain. 

“It’s like having a bad hangover... if I had a hangover, it would be a fine thing!” she jokes.

“But I have to have a positive outlook. Having MS is a nightmare. It’s God’s plan. We have no control.”

Meanwhile, Ciarán’s 14-year-old brother Eolann has his brother’s grit and determination.

“He was diagnosed with juvenile arthritis, and has injections once a week,” says Catriona. 

Our struggles have made us stronger. Yes, we’ve had bad luck, but the kids are fantastic. We work so well as a team.

Ciarán, a team player, took off on his mission of running 250km in 25 days for MS Ireland and for his mother.

“He’s amazing,” says Catriona. “We are very proud of him. The whole town of Clonakilty was behind him.

Ciarán is a man of action

“He’s a man of few words!” adds Catriona.

How does he feel about completing his amazing feat for MS Ireland and for his mother, raising €13,000 when his target was €1,000?

“I’m happy out!” he says.

Catriona is a proud mum, and she is happy out too.

“There is no day that isn’t tough going,” says Catriona. 

But we keep going and we keep on smiling. You always think tomorrow might be a bit better.

Dealing with the pain of MS, Catriona never threw in the towel.

“You might want to stick your head under the pillow and throw in the towel,” she says. “But with five kids that wouldn’t make sense.

“The diagnosis hasn’t changed me. I am the person I always was.”

MS Ireland provides a range of services to thousands of people with MS, and their family members. These are delivered where practical and possible in a blended way through in person and online.

Multiple Sclerosis Ireland’s South Regional Office is located at North Quay House, Pope’s Quay, Cork

Phone number: 021-4300533

Email: southern@ms-society.ie