By Kim O'Leary
For most people the month of January can feel like a battle to get active, but for Newbridge native Gavin Duane, training for the Dublin City Marathon 2019 is about getting active whilst also raising much needed funds for Friends of The Coombe.
In September 2018, Gavin Duane and his partner Dayna suffered a devastating and tragic miscarriage. They received fantastic care and support from staff at the Coombe Hospital in Dublin which included bereavement counselling.
Living in Kilcullen with his partner Dayna, Gavin has said he wants to give back to the Coombe Hospital for the great care and compassion they have shown him and his partner by running in the 2019 Dublin City Marathon next October and raising funds for Friends of the Coombe.
Speaking to KildareNow this week as he starts his journey, Gavin explained: “I only started the campaign last week and I’ve been training for three weeks so far. In September 2018 both my partner and I went through a miscarriage, and the care and attention both of us received from the Coombe was overwhelming, the staff in all areas of the Coombe are magnificent. So I want to do the Dublin City Marathon in 2019 to raise funds for vital services at the hospital in areas like bereavement counselling, early pregnancy unit, day ward and neo natal and intensive care unit. It’s about trying to turn a negative thing into a positive.”
Inspirational Gavin Duane and his partner Dayna
Gavin Duane is from Newbridge and living in Kilcullen and for the next few months will be out running to prepare for the Dublin City Marathon in October 2019
Gavin previously participated in the Dublin City Marathon in 2015. He said: “I fell off the wagon for a while, I put on a bit of weight and things. But running has been great for me taking my mind off things and I want to show other people that you can do anything if you put your mind to it. The care we received from The Coombe was second-to-none, and they have supported us every step of the way from September right up until now. I work in the health sector myself and it’s very patient focused at The Coombe, they never forgot about me as the father going through this as well and they always ask me how I am, too. I wasn’t in a good place for a while and I’m getting back to where I was before now, the running is really helping me. People sometimes forget that men can suffer as a result of miscarriage or still birth and it’s so important to show that it’s good to talk about it.”
Gavin’s initial aim is to raise €1,000 in funding for Friends of The Coombe. He said: “I’ve got a number of about €5,000-€6,000 in my head and if I can get higher than that it’ll be a plus.”
Over the next few months, Gavin will be training hard for the Dublin City Marathon in October 2019 and he has previously been involved in the Relay for Life in Kildare.
Speaking about his excitement for the Dublin City Marathon, Gavin said: “The Marathon is a once in a million experience, there’s no way to describe the feeling you get coming up to the last 100 meters and people are cheering and screaming for you. I just hope that people give a bit of support and so that people will see it’s good to talk about these things and not to bottle it up.”
To support Gavin and donate visit his GoFundMe page and his Facebook ‘Gavin’s Journey to DCM 19’ https://www.facebook.com/gavsjourneydcm19/
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