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Brave battle for Ardee man with MS


A LOCAL man is raising funds for Multiple Sclerosis in the United States where he is battling the illness that he contracted when he was just 30.

Shane Gorman is originally from Ardee but has been living in New York for almost ten years.

A self-employed painter and plasterer had been enjoying life in the Big Apple before he was diagnosed with MS in November 2007, around the time of his 30th birthday. Last weekend, the Ardee man was at a major MS fundraiser at the Heritage Bar in Yonkers to help raise cash for the National MS Society and awareness about the illness.

His parents Rosemary and Vincent, have supported him following his diagnosis and have taken part in rallies to publicise the plight of undocumented Irish in America.

And his Chicago-born fiancee, Molly Churninoff, refused to walk away from him too. The couple went ahead with their plans to marry in February last year.

Shane also wants to smash misconceptions about an illness that few truly understand and as part of his campaign, he got irreverent T-shirts printed that uses humour from Father Ted to get his point across.

He told the Irish Echo: 'People don't know what it is.

'It's not someone sitting in a wheelchair for 20 years. It can take many forms and courses.

'It's a horrible disease. The first medication I was taking was $2,000 a week. That's $24,000 over three months'.

Luckily, his current medication costs half that and Shane's health insurance covers the majority of the bill.

But the diagnosis still came as a huge shock to him. He said: 'It was an awful kick to me. But I'm a proud Irishman.

'I'm not going to take this lying down and I'm not the sort to stay home and mope. If I have to use my Irish humour and my Irish sarcasm to do that, then I'll do that'.

- ANNE CAMPBELL