Tributes paid to patient advocate to Dr Sarah Fitzgibbon

Tributes have poured in for Dr Sarah Fitzgibbon, a Cork mother-of-three, GP and patient advocate who died on Monday with colorectal cancer.

She died surrounded by family in the care of the team at Marymount Hospice. She is survived by her husband Derek and their children Ellen, Will and Catherine.

Since her shock diagnosis in 2014 aged 37, she wrote and spoke publicly about cancer to help others.

“I would not be the first person with a life-changing diagnosis to talk about how important it is to live your life every day, to make the most of every moment that you have, but it really is true,” she said last year.

She also founded the Women in Medicine in Ireland Network.

Her colleagues said: “She advocated for kind, effective and efficient healthcare for all people in Ireland, particularly those who are marginalised.

“Many of us remember her for reasons beyond her remarkable accomplishments: a wonderful colleague, advocate, friend, doctor, and mentor. Our thoughts and deepest condolences go out to her family and friends during this time.” 

Dr Fitzgibbon worked in recent years at the National Screening Service. Her colleagues are “deeply saddened” at her death.

“Through her wisdom, clinical expertise and unwavering commitment to improving care, she made an extraordinary contribution to our screening services in Ireland and to the many people and colleagues whose lives she touched,” they said.

They remembered “her warmth, honesty, kindness and wit”.

Funeral details on RIP.ie, with the removal at Temple Hill Funeral Home on Friday 4pm. Her cremation is at 3pm on Saturday with a live stream available.