Mayo man's special 60th birthday party raises €11,000 for hospice

A Killala man has given back after fighting cancer, with his belated 60th birthday party raising over €11,000 for Mayo Roscommon Hospice.

John Caden has a background in distribution and farming, and is well known for both. Now retired, he likes to keep his hand in with the farm and has still has a herd of cows.

“I’ll always be a farmer”, he says.

Two years ago, John was looking to celebrate his 60th birthday, but plans were put on hold as he was fighting stage three cancer and was not sure what the future held for him.

He remembers the surgeon at his hospital bed, talking though his options.

“There’s not a lot I can do about it. Whatever you can do,” John said to the surgeon, stoically.

John went through surgery and 14 rounds of chemo and even fought sepsis, which put him in a coma for a week.

However, his strength and determination brought him through the treatments and thankfully into remission.

To celebrate, John wanted give something back and decided to hold a belated party for his 60th birthday and raise money for Mayo Roscommon Hospice. He knew of the great work that the Foundation does and even had friends who had availed of the service.

John had a target in mind of raising €10,000. Ambitious, but John is a very determined man and has many contacts in the business world.

The party was held at the Mocha Beans Café in Ballina with live music, food, and a raffle, with prizes donated by local businesses.

It was hugely successful and an incredible €11,127.57 was raised for Mayo Roscommon Hospice – surpassing John’s original goal.

A big thank you has been extended to everyone involved in making the party such a success, particularly Michael Carr and brothers Kenneth and Jarlath Mangan.

John presented the cheque to Mayo Roscommon Hospice CEO Martina Jennings at the hospice's Knock office, with the Foundation extending thanks to John for such an amazing result.