From Malin Head to Mizen Head to help cancer charities

A DAD is in the throes of cycling the length of Ireland, from Malin Head to Mizen Head, over the course of seven days to raise funds for two cancer charities who helped his young daughter.

Stephen Bernes, originally from Jobstown but living now in Bleary, Armagh, set off from Malin Head at the very top of Donegal on Sunday with his friend Adrian Kennedy and support Connor Rush.

This Saturday, Stephen will have amassed a whopping 605km en route to Mizin Head, the southernmost tip of Ireland in Cork.

The goal behind the cycle is to help other families like his own by raising funds for two charities which gave a boost to his daughter Sophie during her cancer treatment.

“Sophie was having this pain in the back of her eye for three or four weeks,” Niamh, Stephen’s wife, who is from Kingswood in Tallaght, tells The Echo.

“She was in the Royal Belfast Hospital, she got an eye test and it showed nothing so we just thought she had a pain in her eye and that was it.

“But she went then and got an MRI and they found a growth at the back of her eye, and the hospital were calling around asking other hospitals if they’d heard of it before.

“It was absolute devastation, for our whole family.”

In August 2020, then 10-year-old Sophie was diagnosed with a rare disease called Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis, which occurs when a person’s body produces too many cells, creating a build-up.

Sophie became a patient of The Royal Belfast Hospital in the children’s oncology and haematology departments, where she underwent a course of chemotherapy and steroids.

While undergoing treatment, Sophie and her family were provided with a respite break to Daisy Lodge in Newcastle, Co Down courtesy of the Cancer Fund for Children.

Daisy Lodge helps families unwind from the pressures of being a cancer patient, and also has a residential programme for young people.

Signifying getting the all-clear of cancer, Sophie received her final treatment and got to ring the bell in The Royal Belfast Hospital on August 17, 2021.

“Sophie is brilliant, she was just great, the treatment was not a bother to her, she didn’t give out or anything like that,” Niamh says.

“Because it was such a small dose of chemo over the course of a year, there was no great hair loss or anything.

“She didn’t complain about a thing, aside from being a little upset that she couldn’t do her horse-riding, she’s mad about her horses.

“Since getting the all-clear, she just has to get MRI scans every six-months until she is 18 and we’ve had no setbacks or anything, she’s doing so well.”

Sophie turned 13 in April, and is back doing what she loves, surrounding herself in the world of horses.

Recently, Sophie and Niamh enjoyed a day-trip to the prestigious horse riding Balmoral Show and to see musician Paolo Nutini in the same day.

In January, while the family were on a trip, Stephen came across the idea of the Malin Head to Mizen Head cycle for charity and started preparing straight away.

“Stephen is determined to do it because of how good the charities were to Sophie,” Niamh says.

“He plays himself down, but not many dads would go this extreme to raise funds for charity in honour of their daughter with only six-months preparation.

“People would train a year or two to do this usually, but he’s doing it after six months.

“He’s doing the best he can and I’ve all the faith in the world that he’s going to finish in Mizen Head on Saturday after a good hard trek.”

The couple, who have four children between them, wed last year and the children took centre-stage, having come through the difficulty with a new outlook on life.

“The children are everything to us, when we got married last year it was all about them and how lucky we are to have each other,” Niamh explains.

“We look at life totally differently now and we’re trying to make as many memories as we can, because cancer touches so many families, including ours.

“There is help and support out there, with breaks away from the cancer talk or the treatment talk.

“We are so grateful to have each other.”

To support Stephen’s Malin Head to Mizen Head charity cycle, click HERE.

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