A CASTLETOWNSHEND woman who had to travel to Galway for two lifesaving stem cell transplants is backing a campaign to get a lab reopened in CUH that would allow the procedure to be done closer to home.

Anne-Marie O’Mahony, Toe Head, was diagnosed with a blood cancer called multiple myeloma in 2016.

“I have three children so it was a very busy household and I was working as a hair stylist and I remember feeling very tired but thinking that it was probably just normal,” recalls Anne-Marie, who was in her early 50s at the time.

After a visit to her GP, where her white blood cells “were on the floor”, she was later diagnosed with a blood cancer called multiple myeloma.

“It was a shock. I had expected to get some bad news, but not that,” said Anne-Marie.

After undergoing chemotherapy treatment in Cork, she had no option but to travel to Galway for two procedures: harvesting of stem cells, and a stem cell transplant.

Cork University Hospital used to offer stem cell transplants but 20 years ago the hospital stopped because its laboratory lost accreditation.

“The harvesting took a few days, but for the transplant I was away for three weeks, and was in isolation. My children were school-going, and my husband is a farmer so it was very difficult for us all,” said Anne-Marie.

“While the doctors, nurses and care in Galway was terrific, it would have been far easier to have all of this done in Cork. I’m a strong person but not everyone would be able to cope with the level of upheaval. The trauma involved in the experience is enough, not to mind having to be away from home and your family.”

Her condition is incurable and she required a second stem cell transplant in 2024.

“The first two dates I was given for treatment in Galway were postponed as it was so busy and there was an issue with beds. On the third occasion I got a call asking me if I could be in Galway in three hours’ time, which was never going to happen coming from Toe Head, so I was admitted through A&E,” she recalls.

“Ultimately, it would just be so much more convenient if all of this is available in Cork. Stem cell treatments are used for so many things now, it’s relatively common, the research has been done, the expertise is there, all that’s missing is this lab.”

Bandon farmer Dermot O’Leary, who is living with multiple myeloma and who had a transplant in Galway in 2015, is also campaigning to have the lab reopened.

He is part of a group attending an information meeting in Leinster House on October 7 to brief politicians on the situation, and the need for action.

“The return of the stem cell facility to CUH would not only be a huge comfort to myeloma, lymphoma and leukaemia patients in Munster, but it would add much-needed capacity nationally. It would also allow the CUH consultants access to new generation treatments like Car-T-cell therapy for these conditions and also for autoimmune diseases like Lupus,” he said.

Dr Vitaliy Mykytiv, a consultant haematologist and clinical director for diagnostics and therapeutics at CUH, is also part of the campaign.

He said that CUH has referred 77 blood cancer patients so far this year to Galway and Dublin for stem transplants and CAR-T therapies.

“In fact 77 is a conservative number and the reality is that the number of patients that could benefit from transplant and CAR-Ts is conservative due to limited national capacity,” he said.

“Not only would the lab facility in CUH be more convenient for Cork and Munster patients it would also free up capacity nationally as St James’s and Galway are at capacity.”

Dr Vitaliy claimed: “The will is just not there. Because the mistaken belief is that it would benefit a relatively small number of people with blood cancer, it seems to be down the list of priorities and funding.”

Spearheading the campaign is Dripsey woman Mags McCarthy whose father was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2021, when he was in his 70s.

“Dad had a stem cell transplant in St James’s in Dublin. I drove from Cork to Dublin every day for the six weeks he was there to support him and when he got well, I started to think about why this couldn’t be done in the south of the country and I felt that it just wasn’t right, especially in a country that’s supposedly so wealthy.”

Mags added: “I don’t want to see other people go through what we did as a family, and also because having a unit in CUH will improve national capacity and give others a better chance of being seen, and of survival.”

Independent Ireland leader Michael Collins has called on the Government to provide funding needed to establish a stem cell treatment facility at CUH.