IZABELA Knotowska has organised a couple of fundraising events for June 1 in aid of her cousin Sara Fodrowska who is battling cancer.
Izabela has spent nearly all her life in Shannon but is originally from Poland, where her cousin Sara lives.
“She is soon to be 28 and she found out that she had cancer at the age of 23, so she has been battling for a few years now,” said Izabela.
“When she went to the doctor she thought it was going to be ovarian cysts, but it turned out that it was stage four ovarian cancer. She went into emergency surgery straight away and she has been fighting it in Poland for more than four years.”
To get the treatment she really needs, there is a huge cost.
“There have been various chemo treatments, and they would help it, but it comes back and the cancer spreads,” she said.
“We started looking outside of Poland for treatment, and we found one in Israel. She went for a test and there was a 90% positive response and she got the go ahead, but she needs 1.5 million Zloty to be paid up.
“That’s the Polish currency and it is over €300,000, it is a huge sum. She has already had two of the six treatments in Israel and is there for the third time now and her results are good, her markers are much better, but it is very costly.”
Having a relative diagnosed with cancer at such a young age has been tough for the whole family.
“It is very difficult. I’m the age she was when she found out she had cancer. I cannot fathom how scary it is at this point in your life to be told that, or at any point in your life really,” she said.
With her cousin desperately needing support for the eye-watering medical bills, Izablea has organised two events for Saturday, June 1.
“June 1 happens to be international children’s day, which isn’t very much celebrated in Ireland, but it is in Poland. We are having a children’s day from 12-3 in Munster footgolf,” she said.
“It’s a ticketed event, and while it is children’s day technically, everyone is welcome, there doesn’t have to be a child! There will be entertainment for everybody there.
“Later in the evening from 8pm at Wolfe Tones we are having a silent auction. For that we have a Clare hurling jersey, signed by the whole team, which will be up for auction. We will also have a raffle with plenty of gifts, vouchers for tattoos, piercing, make-up, hair, even to get your car serviced.
“Clodagh Lawlor will perform for us and Mikey Wall and friends as well.”
Tickets for both of the events are on sale online through eventbrite.ie.
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked with a number of other publications in Limerick, Cork and Galway. His first book will be published in December 2024.