Last September, Kevin Cullen from Walkinstown in Co. Dublin cycled from Dublin to Dungarvan raising an incredible €42,000 in honour of his fiancée, Aoife, who died aged 30 of non HPV cervical cancer in May last year. He is now set to climb Africa’s tallest mountain- Mt Kilamanjaro in memory of Aoife and to raise more vital funds for cancer patients and their families.
Non HPV cancer isn’t typically picked up on a smear test. Kevin is determined to be Aoife’s voice to raise awareness of non HPV cervical cancer and to encourage people of all ages to be aware of changes in their body and to act quickly and seek medical help if they have any concerns.
Kevin shares his story below:
“Aoife and I met on our J1 in Boston in 2021 , we clicked straight way, and spent the Summer dating. When we returned to Dublin we finished college then spent a year in San Francisco before moving to London. After returning to Ireland in 2018 we got engaged. Things were going great and we started planning our wedding in 2020. In the midst of all this Aoife noticed some irregular bleeding, every now and then. We didn’t think too much into it, but it got a bit more frequent and heavier throughout the year.
“In September 2020 she went to her GP, he said he wasn’t too concerned but referred her for scan in December. But in the October Aoife’s bleeding became heavy and frequent. On my birthday -23rd October, Aoife had a very traumatic bleed, so we went straight to the Coombe hospital, where they found a 6cm mass on her cervix. We still weren’t sure what was going on, they took a biopsy and a week later it was confirmed that Aoife had cervical cancer. Hearing someone you love has cancer just turns your world upside down. You hear this news that you can’t comprehend and then you just go home its very traumatic and very surreal, in that moment you’re thinking is this actually happening. In late November we were told that Aoife’s cancer had spread to her lymph nodes but her team thought she would respond to treatment so we thought that it was relatively good news.
Aoife went headfirst though all of her treatment. I will always say I’m so proud of her for how hard she fought.
“Unfortunately in March 2021 Aoife’s scan showed that her cancer had spread throughout her lymphatic system and around her heart and lungs and we were told then the cancer could no longer be treated, only managed.
“On the 1st May 2022, Aoife passed away just 18 months after her initial diagnosis. Cancer took away the opportunity for us to have a long life together… It took away everything so I’m determined to be Aoife’s voice on this and to raise awareness about non HPV cervical cancer. Aoife wanted to advocate for women to undertake their smear tests and to encourage everyone to get lumps, bumps and irregular bleeding checked out.
“I was thinking about cancer so much since Aoife died and organizing a fundraiser in her memory gave me a good focus, it was good for my head, instead of sitting in the house crying my eyes out so was good for my own head as well.
“At the moment, I’m in training to climb Kilimanjaro, I’ve never been into hiking, but before I decided to cycle from Dublin to Dungarvan I didn’t own a bike! So I’m starting from scratch ad training by going to the gym every day and getting out for hikes when I can!
“I’m in the early stages of my fundraising and hoping to raise as much as I can to support other families affected by cancer in Ireland.”
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