Dublin Bay sailor Guy O’Leary is already a third of the way into his MileADayInMay fundraiser, in which he’s challenging himself to swim a mile each day during the month of May in aid of cancer research.
And this year he will be joined by 70 swimmers both in person and around the world doing their own miles to support his important fundraising effort.
As regular Afloat readers will know, Guy — son of Dun Laoghaire Marina developer and local sailing stalwart Michael O’Leary — was diagnosed with cancer after a routine check-up in November 2017 at the age of 34.
Thanks to the efforts of an “incredible surgeon” and other specialists, not to mention 11 gruelling rounds of chemotherapy, Guy has long since regained his health.
And he’s been determined to give back to those who helped keep him alive — starting with first fundraiser in May 2019 when he swam a mile each day in May in various locations, whether in pools, inland waters or the sea.
“Having been through the horrors of cancer, I want to do everything I can to help the research effort,” Guy says. “Over the past few of years, we have raised enough money to fund 8 years of PhD cancer research.”
For the third year running Guy is fundraising both for cancer research in Ireland, which has garnered more than €12,000 already, and for Cancer Research UK which has raised another £1,900. Follow his progress on Instagram.
