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Cancer victim's dying wish raises e10,000

Wednesday, 04 June 2008

HE dying wish of a brave cancer victim was to raise thousands of euro for a hospital, where she spent the last days of her life, by auctioning off 60 thoroughbred racing pigeons.
Young mum-of-two Sylvia Holmes (48) from Crumlin died last St Valentine’s Day in St Catherine’s ward for the terminally ill at Harold’s Cross hospice after an 18-month battle against lung cancer.
“It was Syliva’s last wish in her last days to hold a fundraiser for the hospice because of all it did for her,” said her husband Pat.
Now, Pat (51) and the couple’s two children Patrick (23) – an Irish soldier - and Leia (20) have helped raise e10,000 for the hospice.
The young widower, who married Sylvia in 1982, staged probably the biggest ever sell-off in Ireland of top race pigeons by holding the fundraising auction in a single night.

“Sylvia wanted the hospice to use the money to help make other cancer patients’ last days as comfortable as possible,” he revealed. “The e10,000 will now go towards a renovation of St Catherine’s ward.
“She appeared on RTE news last year to encourage people not to lose hope and up until just before last Christmas, she was doing well, but suddenly fell very sick. She stayed positive until the last week of her life.
“My wife was a very special woman,” he added. “The Garda Traffic Corps was at the funeral because there were so many cars. It was like a State funeral.”
Pigeon fanciers from all over Ireland, Northern Ireland and Britain donated the birds sold at the auction.
“Pigeon fanciers are quite generous fellows, so when they hear there is a cause, they will support it,” Pat said. “I have great friends in the pigeon world and they went along to their friends in England and told them the situation about my wife dying.”
Pat added that he would like to thank Mick Flynn, John Carroll, Keith Stafford and Henry Byrne for organising the auction.
Some of the 60 pigeons in the auction carried reserved prices of e300, a bit less than the world’s dearest pigeon bought from an English stud farm for e175,000.
“These are pigeons that ordinary members of the public could not normally afford to buy,” said close family friend Toby Coleman. “They are from the best stud farms – and all proceeds go to Harold’s Cross.”
The live auction took place at Sarsfield Race Pigeon Club in Ballyfermot.
“The clubhouse was packed wall to wall,” organiser Keith Stafford added.

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