Conor's London marathon run for animal charity
Conor Buggy is running today’s London Marathon in aid of Meath-based animal charity, Last Hope.
Last Hope saved and cared for a rescue cat, Sky, before he adopted him last year. Conor is running to raise funds and highlight the work of Last Hope. He has an aim to raise 1,500 euro or more.
Conor says: 'In March 2012 I was asked by a close friend, who volunteers with Last Hope, to consider adopting a cat that was being taken care of by Last Hope. His name was Sky and he had been in a terrible accident about three months previously. Last Hope did an amazing job, and an expensive job nursing him back to health.
“We fell in love with him the minute we saw him and two weeks later he came to live with us. He is now a beautiful big cat with the cheekiest personality and he never shuts up talking. He now rules our home.
Then in the summer of 2012, my parents lost their dog of nearly seventeen years and wanted to find a new dog. Again Last Hope stepped up for us, and my parents now have Clyde, a beautiful white dog that had been rescued from Last Hope from a neglectful home. He is my mother’s white shadow as he is besotted with her and he now lives the dog’s life down in Wexford where he is spoiled rotten.
“Last Hope do amazing work for which they are critically underfunded and that is why I am running the London Marathon in order to raise cash for them. They do amazing work with animals and they should be lauded for it and supported as much as possible. In these austere times, our pets are very important, and any charities trying to save our pets should be given as much help as possible.
It is costing me personally €1,500 to actually complete the marathon in London between flights, hotel, registration and insurance so ideally I would really like to make a lot more than that, otherwise I could have just given that cash straight to the charity. So please donate as much as you possibly can. I promise to run my heart out!
Andrea Carroll of Last Hope in Navan says: 'Sky was found on a freezing cold morning in Skyrne. He was shivering outside someones house on their doorstep. The kind man made a quick call to Last Hope and we arranged to collect the cat. On first appearance, it was obvious Sky was injured, but the extent of his injuries were unknown at the time. We rushed him straight to the vet and he was admitted for treatment. It was hours later when the vet called to give the diagnosis and prognosis.
It became apparent that Sky had been hit by a car several days prior to being found - the nurse and vet spent many hours removing thousands of maggots from Skys wounds and had to shave a lot of his hair off to discover the full extent of what lay beneath.
Sky had a broken pelvis and horrific injuries to his lower back, all the top layer of skin had to be removed and it took over four months for him to fully heal. He lost his tail in the process but never lost his fight! It has to be said that Sky had the nicest temperament and never once protested against the daily bathing rituals, the ointments, creams, medical procedures and veterinary intervention...it was almost as though he knew that we were helping him and he was adored by everyone who met him.
When Conor got in touch about adopting Sky, we were thrilled that Sky had a super home to go to - it was love at first sight all around and Sky never looked back!'
For donation details, see
https://www.facebook.com/LondonMarathonRunForLastHopeCharity
Donate directly through iDonate
http://www.idonate.ie/conorbuggymarathon
or through Paypal, to
admin@lasthope.ie, mentioning that this is in support of Conor Buggy.