Family’s €250,000 appeal for help in funding their dad’s life-saving operation
By Laura Lyne
THE family of a man originally from Tallaght are appealing for help to fundraise €250,000 
and send him to Canada for an operation for a form of liver cancer that is incurable in Ireland.
Colm “Richie” Callaghan (47), now lives in Portmarnock with his family that includes his wife Samantha, children Ben and Adam and future daughter-in-law Julie O’Connell.
Richie, as he is known to family and friends, and his wife Samantha are only eligible to receive €22,000 in support of the operation as part of their life insurance policy with Aviva.
Julie O’Connell contacted The Echo about Get Richie to Canada, a fundraising initiative that has been set up by his family to try to get him to Canada for a possibly life-saving operation.
Richie was diagnosed with Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC), a form of liver cancer that takes over the cells in the liver, eight weeks ago after returning from a family holiday to Malaga.
Julie told The Echo about her future father-in-law: “Eight weeks ago we were out celebrating his son Ben and I getting engaged, now we are fighting to get him to Canada for a chance of life. It is literally a matter of life and death.”
Richie’s wife Samantha spoke to RTÉ’s Liveline about her husband’s diagnosis, saying: “HCC is inoperable here in Ireland. Fortunately for us, a doctor had just come back from Canada and he gave us some hope that an operation could be done outside of the country.
“Richie does not fit the usual criteria of a person with HCC. This is his life and death scenario. At this stage, he has deteriorated. He is weakening. The other thing is time. He needs to be strong for this operation.”
Fundraising events are set to kick off in the coming weeks and will begin in Portmarnock Shopping Centre on July 31 and the family will host an event based around the popular television show The Cube in The Wright Venue in Swords on August 21 with tickets costing €25.
A fundraising page has also been set up on Facebook, called Get Richie to Canada, with details on how to donate online and future events in support of Richie available.
