Outpouring of sadness following the death of Wexford Relay for Life founder Gay Murphy – Independent.ie
There has been an outpouring of sadness following the death from cancer of much-loved Wexford woman Gay Murphy, the founder of Wexford Relay for Life which has raised over €700,000 for the Irish Cancer Society and provided community support and solidarity for those affected by the disease.
ay of Piercestown, Wexford died on Friday morning in St Vincent’s Hospital, Dublin, surrounded by her heartbroken family including her husband Paddy and children Eoin and Fiona having celebrating her 60th birthday earlier in the year with a big party at her home.
The former Wexford General Hospital employee was first diagnosed with breast cancer in the summer of 2014 and subsequently enjoyed periods of good health before finding herself battling the illness again a second and a third time and having to undergo further surgeries and treatment.
She set up the Wexford Relay for Life fundraiser in 2016 throwing herself wholeheartedly into the annual July event at Páirc Charman which quickly grew into the most successful one of its kind in the country. The first relay raised €20,000, the third one over €100,000, a virtual event held in 2020 realised an incredible €150,000 and that was surpassed by this year’s figure of €178,000.
But for Gay it was never just about the money, it was more about the sense of community and friendship that Relay for Life provided for the hundreds of participants including patients undergoing cancer treatment, people in recovery and those bereaved by cancer.
“Relay for Life is a fantastic event that brings me joy. It brings the whole community here in Wexford together in the fight against cancer and it lets people know they are not alone”, she said in a magazine interview about her involvement.
Nobody knew better than Gay about the effect of cancer on families. Her late mother and her youngest and eldest sisters were also diagnosed with cancer following her illness and faced through their own journeys.
Gay was proud to walk the opening lap at Relay in 2016 but little did she know at the time that her mam would walk the lap with her in 2018 before dying from pancreatic later that year while her sisters were both diagnosed the following year.
Gay Murphy was the spirit of Wexford Relay for Life who was constantly amazed by the generosity of Wexford people towards the fundraiser and so proud of what it was achieving. In 2019, she received a well-deserved South East Radio People of the Year Award for her work.
Despite battling cancer for a third time, she attended her last Relay for Life in July and spent time talking to all the participants and cheering them on.
Committee member Melrona O’ Neill said everyone in the Relay family in County Wexford is heartbroken by the news of Gay’s death . “I don’t think it has actually hit anyone yet. It is so close to what we do.
“She will be hugely missed. She was a force to be reckoned with. She had a huge passion for what she did, she was a perfectionist in how she delivered it and she was a great friend.
“What she achieved was phenomenal. I don’t think any other county did better. She brought Relay for Life to Wexford and made it the most successful one in Ireland, That is her legacy. For her raising the money was important but community was the real priority”.