Lending a helping hand was a fitting final act for Kilkenny group

Memories of a friend and the hope to provide comfort for others were the abiding emotions that flowed as a local group gathered to honour John Holmes at the Cois Nore Centre in Kilkenny.
The members of the John Needs Pembro committee - Kieran Conway, John Joe Cullen, Sean Lynch, Judy Kearney, Kieran Ryan, Eric Dignan, Ray Heffernan, Liam Heffernan, Melrie Kelly, Sheila Kelly, Jennifer Dempsey and Margaret and Paddy O’Brien - came together to draw the final curtain on their campaign and to arrange a number of cheque presentations to local organisations as they wound down operations.
The group came together when the John Needs Pembro fundraising committee was formed in November, 2018 with a common goal - to help John Holmes pay for the course of 30 infusions of the cancer treatment Pembrolizumab as recommended by his oncologist, Professor John Crown.
As each infusion cost €5,111.50, the projected total cost was over €150,000 - an unaffordable financial challenge.
The committee pledged to help by publicising John’s story and organising fundraising events.
Fundraising began in November 2018. In August, 2019, Professor Crown adjusted John’s medication regimen. The committee immediately suspended all fundraising activities, leaving a significant surplus of unused funds.
Sadly, John’s decade-long battle with cancer ended on December 2, 2021.
“Pembrolizumab may not have been the magic bullet we all hoped for but we know it provided a reprieve,” a committee spokesperson told the People. “It allowed John to spend precious time with his wife Edel, his son Jonathan and his daughter Louise, securing for them family memories they might not otherwise now have.”
On March 8 the committee met to decide how to distribute the surplus. Guided by the conviction that these funds should be returned to the communities they came from, members voted in favour of making donations to cancer support groups in Kilkenny and Wexford.
The selections were:
Biometric Testing - A crucial step in identifying the nature of a particular cancer, thereby signposting the best way to treat it. This test is not publicly-funded and costs €2,000. Through the John Needs Pembro fundraising committee it has been arranged to cover these costs for five people: €10,000.
Cois Nore - €10,000.
Carlow-Kilkenny Home Help Care - €7,000.
South East Radiotherapy Transport - €5,000.
Pre-payment of Lymphodema and Reflexology treatments - €2,730.10.
Private donation to a family in Kilkenny whose daughter has cancer - €5,000.
Hope Centre, Enniscorthy - €2,500.
Relay for Life - €1,000.
Twenty cancer packs (regular retail price €50) to be prepared by skincare specialist Denise O’Connell (myskin.ie) to alleviate pain following radium treatment - €1,000.
This makes for a staggering total of €44,230.10.
Generosity
The committee were awestruck by the open-hearted generosity of the many good people they met during this journey. These donations, they said, are the committee’s attempt to repay a portion of that debt of gratitude.
The committee also noted their gratitude to the many business who hosted or otherwise supported their efforts, to PJ and Brian O’Neill and the many volunteers who freely offered their time and energy at fundraisers.
The enhanced cancer support resources made possible by these gifts are part of John’s legacy. All involved with the group hope this knowledge will be a source of consolation to Edel, Jonathan and Louise in their bereavement.
May he rest in peace.