'I didn't know anybody at that time who had survived cancer'
Lourda McHugh with her husband John and daughter Molly after receiving an Honorary Doctorate of Law at University College Galway. Picture: Aengus McMahon
Lourda McHugh is a woman driven by the deeply personal experience of breast cancer to make real changes for those who find themselves in the same position today.
Lourda’s own experience helped to formulate the idea for Mayo Pink Ribbon, which has raised vital funds over the last 12 years for breast cancer research. While Lourda has stepped back from Mayo Pink Ribbon, she remains on the board of the National Breast Cancer Research Institute and was recently awarded a Doctor of Law for her work and commitment in the area of breast cancer research.
When we sit down to chat, it is clearly evident how strongly Lourda feels about research and the difference it can make.
Lourda, thanks for chatting me - tell me a little about your background.
I'm married to John McHugh, he was a dentist - we are both retired now. I worked in the practice with him. We have one daughter, Molly, who is the light of our lives.
I'm from Newport, that gorgeous town on Clew Bay. My Mum and Dad were business people. We had a shop and a post office and a bar and a farm. I grew up in a business background. All we ever knew was smiling at everybody and saying, 'Hello, how are you?' It was a hard life, but it was a great life. It was a great training ground.
People will know you from the Mayo Pink Ribbon side of things - that journey really began when you were diagnosed with breast cancer.
In 2005, I was diagnosed with breast cancer, and I had a bilateral mastectomy. When I got the diagnosis, it was awful because to have to face that surgery was so frightening. I was in Dublin, I came home. My husband was at work. I got as far as the house. He met me here. We cried, we talked, and he had to go back to work.
It was awful. That feeling of, I'd like to leave my body, was so strong in me that day. I just could not see a future. Our little girl had not started school. I didn't know anybody at that time who had survived cancer, so I didn't think I was going to make it. Thank God it's so different now.
You had a very long journey Lourda - the surgery was only the beginning?
It was awful. I was nearly institutionalised, I was in the hospital for so long. I had two surgeons working on me simultaneously and I was over nine hours in surgery. Then after that, I came home and you couldn't go for the chemo till you had healed. But the quicker you have the chemo, the better. Back then, it was one treatment, nearly one size fits all. They know so much more now.
"Usually, you'd have your surgery, your chemo, and then your radiotherapy. I had my chemotherapy, which was absolutely the most horrific experience. Whatever about the surgery, which was life-changing, the chemotherapy was just awful. You had no energy. I remember John took a week off work and we were going to walk around Turlough House - I wasn't fit to. That's how debilitating it was.
"But I came through that and then I had the radiotherapy, which was really, really good because with radiotherapy, I could drive myself. I was finally beginning to be able to claw back my independence. So I'd only bounce out the doors because it was a piece of cake. I was lucky, not everybody has it so easy with radiotherapy, but I was lucky.
It was during that period that the wheels began turning in your head regarding research and the difference it could make.
It brought it home to me how important research is. It's crucial. Because it's all about percentages. My consultant just kept giving me percentages, and telling me if you do it this way, we get this. And that was down to research.
"That was in 2005, and then in 2006, there was a Mayo Pink Ribbon Appeal. A few friends came together and we organised the Mayo Pink Ribbon Appeal, and that was a Ladies' Luncheon. It was hugely successful and I learned so much. That raised €33,000 and the money went into the MRI scanner in Mayo University Hospital.
"So that was really, really good because MRI is crucial for diagnostics and diagnosis is crucial for survival. But I still wanted to absolutely focus on a lab, on research. I always felt I needed to have something like a big name or something special to get traction. I was having dinner with Enda and Fionnuala Kenny and four other friends at a friend's house. As the evening progressed, Enda said, 'I want to do something and you can put it wherever you want, but I want to do something and I suggest a cycle'. He said, 'I'll tell you what, we get 100 cyclists at €100 - that will raise €10,000'.
"I hadn't a clue about the logistics of a cycle. I went to John Brennan and Kevin Dunleavy at Castlebar Cycling Club. They came on board. Everybody we asked said yes. So then I went to these like-minded women that I felt would be up for it. And Yvonne Horkan, Marita Staunton, Anne Collins and Therese O'Grady - they were the ladies that came on board first. And boy, did we learn. We learned so much.
When was the first Mayo Pink Ribbon Cycle?
In May 2010, the first cycle took place. We raised over €60,000 that time. It was something that was magic. You look back and you think, it was sponsorship cards and application forms. So everywhere I went, I had my handbag, I had my notebook, my cards, and my forms. Some people had never gotten up on the bike, I'd chance my arm with them. I had to fill out the form. Next thing you'd see them out training. One of my slogans was 'Be part of it - make a difference'. All our husbands got on the bike and not one of them could cycle. They didn't even own a bicycle! I remember a man who got out in wellies. People were just so good. We were very frugal with how we spent money on it. I always felt I couldn't stand over anything unless we were getting the best value for every euro we paid.
What kind of things have happened because of that fundraising over the last number of years?
When you are having your mammogram, they're dreadfully sore. Now they're working on imaging where you can just drop your breast into this machine to eliminate that pain. Another one is where someone has a mastectomy, they are removing some of the fat cells, and they're growing it where they can now implant it into your breast. Those are huge things. There are so many different types of chemos now. Before, you'd have surgery and then you'd have your chemo. Now it's a cocktail of different things. It's really targeted.
Very recently Lourda, you were honoured for your work in this area - tell us about that.
Earlier this year, I got a phone call from the President of the University in Galway to say I was being awarded a doctorate. When he rang, I thought this is April Fools, someone's pulling my leg here. I missed half of what he said to me because I was so busy trying to fathom who it was. You start doing something good and meeting so many really great people is so rewarding in itself. To get something like this was just never in my expectations, not in my wildest dreams.
What was the day like – making a speech at an event like that?
I think so many people were on my shoulder, minding me that for the speech. It was very much from my heart. I told a bit about my story. And I really wanted to get across how important research was and that I'm alive today, purely because of it. And I also wanted them to know that the power of what a community can do together. And that really, I was accepting it on behalf of and because of Mayo - the community, the organisations, the volunteers, the cyclists, the sponsors who never looked for their name to be flagged anywhere because they believed in us. I looked out at the audience, and they were really paying attention. And afterwards, so many came up to me and said, 'You really touched me', and they told me their stories. And so many young people said, 'You really made a difference'. I couldn't believe how they would actually seek me out to thank me. It was amazing.
You still have the appetite to keep pushing on in that regard don't you?
I do. I've stepped back from Mayo Pink Ribbon and Yvonne Horkan has very kindly taken up the mantle, and she has a committee behind her that was there when I was there. But I'm still on the board of the National Breast Cancer Research Institute. I'm very excited, actually, because I got really good news recently. I've wanted to make us more national - on the board side of things. So I was working on getting a well-known company or brand to have us as their charity partner. We applied to Spar and we got it! It went out for voting to all the Spars and Eurospars in Ireland, and they selected us. I actually found that out on the way to get my doctorate, and it was like as if Santa Claus had come.
What are your hopes for this area - is it continued development in research?
I suppose I only ever wanted no breast cancer. I did say in my speech in Galway, hold on to your youthful idealism, which I know is very idealistic. Early diagnosis until we get an injection to finally stop breast cancer for good.
