Movember to Help Colm Beat Bone Cancer

On 19th October 2016 one of our mates Colm Brennan was diagnosed with bone cancer (High Grade Osteosarcoma). A bunch of his friends have decided to grow moustaches for the month of November to help raise money to support Colm's living and medical costs - just so he can focus on his treatment and recovery without the full financial stress involved. We appreciate your sponsorship and support for our great mate!

Here is Colm's story about who he is and the incredibly tough journey he's going through:

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Hi! My name's Colm, I'm 24 years old, I was born in the UK and moved to Auckland, New Zealand in 2011.

I was set to move over to Brisbane, Australia to be with my partner Isabelle on 16th October 2016, unfortunately a few weeks before this I fell down the stairs and was hospitalized. It was after this accident, in the subsequent visits, that we discovered an irregularity in my blood tests.

We investigated further with a variety of scans, and on 19th October 2016 I was diagnosed with bone cancer (High Grade Osteosarcoma). This has come as a complete shock, I have been healthy and fit for all of my life and never had deal with any major illness with myself or any immediate family member.

The tumour is a single large mass on the left half of my pelvis, which is why I didn't notice it growing. It is cancerous and aggressive. It is very likely to spread, even though it hasn't as of yet (fingers crossed!).

The tumour is located in my left pelvis/hip which is compressing a large amount of nerves going down my left leg - including the sciatic nerve. Due to this I have been dealing with chronic pain non-stop, I have been unable to sit at a desk, walk further than 10-15m or drive a car without excruciating pain attacks. As a consequence I can now no longer work or have an income. Being young and (I thought) healthy, I don't have any form of income protection to fall back on.

I am going through my rainy day fund at the moment to pay my weekly bills, and my family are helping me where they can but eventually this will not be enough to support me - the recovery process will take years and I haven't even factored in post-recovery costs/physio which I'm sure will be required as I've already suffered significant nerve damage. I have also found out I will be paralysed from my left knee down for the rest of my life no matter what now, unless the chemotherapy fails in which case I will lose my entire left leg and hip.

I've created this GiveALittle page in the hope that I can get support with my ongoing medical costs, living costs, and to take as much pressure off my family financially, as they support me emotionally.

I've never asked for anything like this before, and to be honest I don't feel completely comfortable doing it - however I am faced with the reality that my life has just changed drastically and I need all the help I can get. Even the smallest amount of donation would mean the world to me and my family.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story, I am staying strong and positive. There is a light at the end of the tunnel for me.