Dundalk and the wider community have dug deep to support Dundalk woman Sonia Hoey who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer.
A massive fundraising campaign was launched on Monday for the former Dundalk FC player with the aim of raising €80000 which would help pay for life changing treatment in Mexico and potentially help improve her overall condition and shrink her tumours. At the time of going to press (Wednesday afternoon) the fund had already reached just shy of €75000 with over 2000 people donating to the fund including a very generous €1000 donation from one of Sonia’s former clubs Rock Celtic FC.
Another of Sonia’s former clubs Castletown Belles are also doing all they can to help out with club coach Andrew Gallagher
stating that this year’s registration fees will automatically bypass the club and go to a fund for Sonia Hoey.
“Her nephew, Daniel Hoey, contacted us and asked if there was anything we could do to help,” said Andrew.
“For more information on how to register your child for Castletown Belles Football Club you can visit our Facebook page,” said Andrew.
“It’s something small we are doing. It’s a very sad story and we are trying to do all we can. Club membership for the year costs €10 for parents and guardians. The money will go straight into the fund. It’s something extra we can do,” he added.
Sonia is a 42-year-old, well-known sportsperson who was originally diagnosed with stage 3 cervical cancer in February 2019.
According to Sonia’s gofundme page, she underwent an aggressive treatment of radiation and chemotherapy every day for two months.
She was almost a year in remission when she got the sad news for the second time in July 2020, incurable cervical cancer had returned and this time it has spread to her lungs.
Sonia has received the maximum dose of radiation, so she can’t undergo this treatment again. She is hoping to undergo treatment at the Hope for Cancer clinic in Mexico instead.
She won the FAI Cup Final with Dundalk FC also in 2005 scoring the winning goal against Peamount Utd and she was also the captain of the DkIT football college team that won the Interprovincial college tournament.
The supremely talented athlete from Ard Easmuinn also played Gaelic with her local club Dowdallshill and with Louth’s women’s team. More recently she was the first player to take her place in the Castletown Belles FC hall of fame. Dundalk FC and LGFA are among the many local sporting organisations supporting the fundraiser for Sonia.
For more information and to make a donation visit www.gofundme.com/f/save-our-sonia-sostreatment-in-mexico?utm_source=facebook
