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Kevin Curran raised over €20,000 for the charity in memory of his wife Eileen.

Kerry farmer raises over €20,000 for cancer research grants

Kevin Curran raised the money by driving his vintage tractor Betsy across America’s Route 66 in memory of his wife.

A KERRY SHEEP farmer has raised almost €25,000 for the Irish Cancer Society by driving his 50-year-old vintage tractor Betsy across America’s famous Route 66.

Yesterday Curran presented the charity with the money at the Irish Cancer Society Research Awards Ceremony in Dublin at which 9 new cancer research grants were awarded.

Curran and five friends decided to raise the money in memory of his wife Eileen who named the vintage tractor.

Speaking to TheJournal.ie Curran said his wife contracted lung cancer in 2000 and had a lung removed.

“She was OK for a good few years after that but then it came back and within two weeks she was gone,” he said.

“I’m hoping this might help someone else. Lots of people in the village have died of cancer so we wanted to raise money to go towards the research so something can be done about it.”

The research is really important. We want to see students getting grants and scholarships so they can do the research. We’ll see if they come up with anything though they already have with the likes of colon cancer so we’re getting there.

The route took the small group fourteen days to complete, travelling over 1700 miles on Betsy the tractor.

“It’s something a bit different, it seemed like a good idea at the time and we got away with it,” Curran said.

“We really enjoyed it because we all have a good relationship so there was great craic along the way.”

Curran said the group are considering travelling the route again next year to raise more money for the charity.

Cancer research

The Kerry farmer’s contribution will go towards the Irish Cancer Society’s total €2.5 million investment in cancer research in 2012.

The Fellows and Scholars awards are designed to foster home-grown cancer research talent in Ireland and to ensure new research projects are commenced in a range of cancers including breast, oesophageal, colorectal, gastrointestinal and prostate cancers.

The research projects span a wide range of research areas and will investigate a number of potentially important topics, such as the response of cancer cells to chemotherapeutics and how they interact with our immune system.

Cancer is a major cause of death and illness in this country and each year there are over 25,000 new cases diagnosed as well as over 7,500 deaths which accounts for almost 25 per cent of the annual national death toll.

Cancer rates are expected to increase and it is estimated that by 2020, 40,000 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in Ireland each year.

Read: Irish start-up company develops ‘groundbreaking’ cancer treatment>

Read: Public urged to recognise signs of potentially fatal – but preventable – melanoma>

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17 Comments
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    Mute Joan Featherstone
    Favourite Joan Featherstone
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    Nov 28th 2012, 6:51 AM

    Wonderful, well done Kevin and co, sure your wife would be bursting with pride if she were here.

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    Mute Orlaith Lynch
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    Nov 28th 2012, 6:59 AM

    Well done Kevin – what a great story to wake up to this morning. A few more stories like this wouldn’t go astray :)

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    Mute Marie Dineen
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    Nov 28th 2012, 7:11 AM

    well done Scotch!…..Eileen would be proud…..Regards …Paddy x

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    Mute peter
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    Nov 28th 2012, 7:07 AM

    We have all lost loved ones to cancer & I think these guys are amazing, bravo.

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    Mute Punt Nua
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    Nov 28th 2012, 7:03 AM

    Fantastic story! Well done!

    93
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    Mute Punt Nua
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    Nov 28th 2012, 7:04 AM

    Fantastic story! Fantastic achievement! Well done!

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    Mute Caroline Egan
    Favourite Caroline Egan
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    Nov 28th 2012, 7:54 AM

    What a great fundraising idea! Well done to Kevin and his friends. Well done to 50 year old “Betsy” too!

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    Mute Martin Curran
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    Nov 28th 2012, 10:23 AM

    That’s definitely not the tractor that did route 66!! He wishes ;-)
    Good Stuff Dad.

    http://www.mycharity.ie/event/route66betsythetractor/

    41
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    Mute vv7k7Z3c
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    Nov 28th 2012, 10:36 AM

    I can confirm that is not, in fact, Betsy the tractor in the picture. I understand Betsy is on her holidays at the moment so they had a younger, shinier tractor stand in on the day of the photo shoot.

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    Mute Mary Kavanagh
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    Nov 28th 2012, 11:10 AM

    Well done, Kevin Curran! A marvellous idea and achievement!
    And don’t you just love it? A tractor body double!

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    Mute Jack Daniels
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    Nov 28th 2012, 12:26 PM

    Good stuff man.

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    Mute Marguerite Harty
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    Nov 28th 2012, 2:58 PM

    Well done ,people are just so good doing great things for charities these days ,

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    Mute Stamper Macdouglas
    Favourite Stamper Macdouglas
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    Nov 28th 2012, 5:58 PM

    Fair play. Credit to his community

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    Mute Mariusz Koziel
    Favourite Mariusz Koziel
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    Nov 28th 2012, 9:17 AM

    The cure for cancer has been allready found only no-one speaks about it.

    http://www.riseearth.com/2012/05/how-hemp-oil-cures-cancer-and-why-no.html

    4
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    Mute Sarah Prendergast
    Favourite Sarah Prendergast
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    Nov 28th 2012, 9:28 AM

    Really?……. Has it?

    Amadán

    24
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    Mute Mariusz Koziel
    Favourite Mariusz Koziel
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    Nov 28th 2012, 9:36 AM

    If any one has cancer than google it , find the right person and try it.Its easier to disslike without actually trying it. But I dont care for ignorance, sooner or later you will find out.

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    Mute Seán Lynch
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    Nov 29th 2012, 5:52 AM

    Fair play to him! A massive achievement. But yes hemp oil is known to shink tumours as THC eats the dead cells around the cancer halting its growth and forcing it to stop.

    There are 1000s of articles on this.

    http://www.labnews.co.uk/news/cannabis-destroys-cancer-cells/

    1
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