Big-hearted Donegal woman fundraising for the Meningitis Research Foundation

A big-hearted Donegal woman is well on the way to reaching her fundraising target for a Irish charity, which brings together people and expertise to defeat meningitis and septicaemia.

To date, Buncrana's Éadaoin Ó Raw has raised more than €3,000 for the Meningitis Research Foundation (MRF).

The NUI Galway Earth and Ocean Science student had hoped to raise €4,220 before September but has put those plans on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking to Donegal Live, Éadaoin, who was currently back home in Inishowen, remotely learning at her home in Umricam, explained she wanted to raise awareness and help research for the MRF because students and young people were most at risk.

“Originally, the plan was that in September coming I would be climbing Kilimanjaro, the world's tallest freestanding mountain, its peak sitting at 5,895m above sea level.

“My climb was in aid of MRF. Shockingly, meningitis and neonatal sepsis are the second biggest infectious killer of children under the age of five on the planet, affecting more than 2.8 million people every year. They can kill you within 12 hours and are responsible for more deaths of children under 5 than malaria, measles, tetanus and AIDS combined.

“Meningitis Research Foundations work is providing better access to vaccines, health systems that can diagnose and treat children, and support to survivors of meningitis. Its time to make meningitis a global health priority,” said Éadaoin.

Éadaoin has already had a couple of fundraisers. She did a bucket collection and a bag pack in Galway and a non-uniform day in St Egney's National School in Desertegney.

The young Inishowen woman said she was interested in volunteering and had got chatting to members of MRF at their stall in NUI Galway.

She added: “I didn't actually know much about meningitis before I started fundraising. It was only when I started going out and meeting people, I realised the actual effects of the illness.

“Whenever we were doing the bag pack, about one in ten people I talked to had some kind of meningitis story, a child or someone they knew had had it.

“There were mixed stories about meningitis. Some people were fine afterwards but some people I talked to, their child ended up in a wheelchair or sadly died. Meningitis does affect a lot of people,” said Éadaoin.

Given the restrictions resulting from the coronavirus pandemic and the fact it is uppermost in people's minds, an optimistic Éadaoin said she hoped to resume fundraising for MRF when everyone was “out and about” again.

To donate to Éadaoin's charity, just click: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/eor2020?fbclid=IwAR01-