'If leaping out of a plane helps even one family, then fear isn't a reason to stop'

When first approached to do a fundraising skydive, Bridget Cunningham, a founding member of Nobber Cancer Support Group, said her first instinct was to say no.

She openly admits she is terrified of heights but then she thought of her late brother Kenneth and all those who face cancer without any choice and decided that if jumping out of a plane helped even one person facing a cancer journey, then she would do it.

Bridget, a nurse, is one of six people who came together in 2020 to set up Nobber Cancer Support Group. They organised a Christmas concert in the village raising €10,000 to get them started and the group has gone from strength to strength since then helping six people in its first year to 753 to date.

The service covers a wide area beyond the village of Nobber, also supporting people from Castletown, Kilmainhamwood, Carlanstown, Moynalty, Drumconrath and Meath Hill.

Generally, this support involves covering the cost of transport to and from treatment, taking away some of the stress.

For those on radiation treatment, it can mean daily visits for a number of weeks so having the transport service helps take away the worry of finding someone to bring them.

The group has five drivers they work with and all five are on the road five days a week showing just how busy the service is.

Fundraising is absolutely vital to keeping the service going and NCSG is lucky to have great support in the local community and many of those who the group has helped have in turn done fundraisers to show their appreciation and help others who may be facing into their own cancer battle.

With demand for the service growing, fundraising is more important than ever and a group of 17 people, including Bridget, have signed up to do a parachute jump on 1st August organised by Derek Gaffney whose eight-year-old son Cayden was one of those NCGS supported on his cancer journey.

NCSG chairperson Peter O'Brien is also among the group taking to the skies. As committee members, Bridget and Peter know how much it costs to continue to provide the services and how vital fundraising is.

"The generosity of people continues to amaze me," said Bridget. "This parachute jump fundraiser organised by Derek Gaffney is just one example. His son Cayden was diagnosed with leukaemia in February 2023, just over a month after my brother Kenneth passed away. It was an incredibly difficult time for Derek, especially as Kenneth was a close friend of his. We supported Cayden throughout his illness, and Derek has since organised this huge fundraiser—one that will give back far more than we ever gave.

"When Derek asked me to do the parachute jump, my first instinct was to say no — I’m terrified of heights. But then I thought about my brother Kenneth, about Cayden, and about every person who faces cancer with no warning, no choice, and no control.

"They don’t get the option to step back from fear — they have to face it head on. I’m lucky enough to be fit and well, and I do have a choice. So if taking a leap out of a plane helps raise funds, awareness, and hope for even one family, then fear isn’t a reason to stop — it’s the very reason to jump."

Bridget emphasised how absolutely imperative fundraising is to keeping Nobber Cancer Support going and allowing them to continue supporting people when they need it most.

"Every service we provide depends on the generosity of the community, and time and again we are humbled by how people give back. A powerful example is Yvonne Curtis, who organises an annual 5km run in Wilkinstown every May.

"Yvonne is someone we have helped, and seeing people turn their own experience into something that supports others is incredibly moving. The kindness, effort, and commitment shown by people like Yvonne , and by so many others — is what keeps this service alive and ensures no one in our community has to face cancer alone."

Back when Bridget helped set up Nobber Cancer Support Group in 2020, she never imagined that her own family would be touched by cancer in such a devastating and cruel way, with the loss of her brother Kenneth.

Bridget is a member of the Weldon family from Newtown, Nobber, a daughter of Christy and Hilda and one of a family of ten- five boys and five girls. Her father Christy worked for years with Meath County Council and is still a familiar figure on the road in his JCB digger.

A close knit family, the Weldons are still struggling to come to terms with the loss of Kenneth at the age of 46 just three weeks after being diagnosed with cancer.

Kenneth would have turned 50 next week, and this has also helped spur Bridget on in doing her fundraiser, a sad and poignant way to mark what would have been his milestone birthday while helping raise funds for other families dealing with a cancer diagnosis.

"When you set up something like our cancer support group, you never imagine that cancer will come knocking at your own door — and certainly not in the way it did for us.

"My brother became unwell with just two weeks of upper gastric pain. He went to the emergency department on 10th December and, devastatingly, passed away on 30th December. He was only 46 years old and left behind his wife Sylvia and three young children Kaylah, Lauren and Callum.

"He had always been fit and healthy, so the speed and severity of it all was impossible to comprehend. As a family, we were completely traumatised — and it brought home, in the hardest possible way, just how suddenly cancer can change everything."

To support Bridget and Nobber Cancer Support Group you can make a donation on her idonate page 'Bridget Cunningham's Parachute Jump' .