Donal Walsh: A courageous legacy

Donal Walsh’s message of life continues to inspire people, his mother Elma tells Claire Fitzpatrick

Seven years ago, then 16-year old Donal Walsh celebrated his last Christmas. The Kerry teenager, having been faced with a looming sentence of succumbing to his cancer, determinedly powered through his terminal symptoms despite being told he should “prepare for an early Christmas”.

Donal would unfortunately pass away some months later on May 12, 2013, but his legacy lives on. As many may recall Donal’s rise to prominence in 2013 through his writings and appearance on Brendan O’Connor’s The Saturday Night Show, his strong simple faith and investment in the issues of suicide and poor hospital conditions for teenagers, even while sick, gained the young man a large media following and deep respect held nationwide.

Donal’s selfless commitments to raising money for Crumlin Children’s Hospital – €65,000 to be exact – and awareness around the prevalence of suicide in young people inspired his parents, Elma and Fionnbar, to found their charity, The Donal Walsh #LiveLife Foundation, moved to do so after an influx of donations to the family and a desire to continue Donal’s altruistic mission subsequent to his death.

The charity has done significant work in the past six years of transforming hospital and hospice spaces for teenagers around the country and promoting an anti-suicide message; as to date, the Foundation has raised and distributed €500,000 to help develop hospice facilities in terms of mental health and faith, and every Pieta House facility now has a dedicated Donal Walsh room.

Mission

Donal’s legacy and mission still vibrantly persists this Christmas. Donal’s Mam Elma describes his memory as one recognised and well-valued. “It’s hard to believe that six years later, a little boy who was on TV for 19 minutes is still remembered and respected and what he said is still respected,” she says. And there’s no doubt that she is right and Donal is still remembered and respected. She excitedly informs The Irish Catholic of her son’s nomination by the Red Cross Humanitarian Awards for the Young Humanitarian Award, which he won on November 16.

The second annual Humanitarian Award ball honours humanitarian achievements of various respects, including young people with remarkable humanitarian accomplishments, undoubtedly characteristic of Donal.

Donal’s mission to advocate for those who “were in difficulty and didn’t have the resilience to speak about things and the confidence to speak about what they were thinking and where they were going in their own head and what was troubling them”, as Elma indicates, lies at the heart of the mission of the #LiveLife Foundation today.

“Those are the people he wanted to help,” Elma says. “And for us the same. It’s a great endorsement to say that he’s remembered and that the work we’re doing is benefiting people. We’re getting out to the schools all the time, we never ask to go to a school or a venue to talk, but people keep asking would we talk at their venues and schools, and it’s to talk about the message that Donal gave out six years ago.

“It’s not something we planned, not something we organised, it’s just something that keeps happening, and if it helps people, we’ll keep doing it and if we don’t help people we’ll stop,” Elma says.

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Donal’s unwavering faith throughout his illness swept the nation with founded admiration and respect back in 2013. In his letters published by the Sunday Independent, Donal contended that his suffering was part of God’s plan for him, and that if other people could learn from the character he maintained in his struggle, that would be enough for him reconcile with the cards he had been dealt.

“I have to remember that God is using me; whether he is using me as a symbol for people to appreciate life more or whether His first two mountains weren’t high enough for me, all I know is that I am walking with him even though it is along his path,” he wrote.

It was Donal’s trust in God that motivated herself and her family to keep what would otherwise be a struggling Faith during his final months and in his death, Elma reveals. Donal’s acceptance of his illness and fearless approach to his impending fate eased the family’s concerns and made the process of accepting Donal’s fate a less-difficult one.

“When we saw his Faith, we couldn’t disrespect it or anything, that he had huge Faith himself, and I suppose we’ve all had a strong Faith here in the family. And you know we all come to die someday so we might as well face up to it. [His Faith] did help him in a huge way and I suppose him being at peace and knowing where he was going and what was happening helped us as well because he understood everything and he wasn’t afraid to face where he was going or what was happening or anything, so that did help us. He wasn’t resisting anything or fighting it, he had total acceptance of what he was given in life,” Elma says.

This is not to say that Elma’s Faith didn’t falter in Donal’s death. “I did fight with God and I did argue with him and I couldn’t face the church, couldn’t face going to Mass, couldn’t face anything like that,” Elma revealed on the Life and Soul RTÉ radio show in July 2019.

However, Donal’s faith in his lifetime set an example for Elma and inspired her to not abandon her faith in such difficult times. “I was here at home and I said, ‘What would Donal say? ’I said, ‘I know exactly what he would say so I went back to Mass, back to praying. I cried my way through the first six months,” Elma said.

In his reflection on his journey with cancer, Donal wrote in 2013, “if this was what God wants me to do, if he wants me to fight cancer, if he wants me to be a symbol to other people, or if he just wants me to die then I guess I’ll strap up my hiking boots and get to the top of this mountain”.

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The Walsh family has since led by example of Donal’s resilience, with not allowing such tragedy to destroy their Faith or damage their relationship with God, instead continuing Donal’s mission and spreading faith in their commitment to Donal’s humanitarian pursuits.

Since 2013, the #LiveLife Foundation has made remarkable progress in facilitating mental health awareness in Ireland, particularly in facilitating access to proper mental health care for struggling teens and promoting an anti-suicide message to young people across the country.

The impact of Donal’s legacy evidently “has results”, Elma says. “He was speaking on television for 19 minutes and those results have rippled across these six and a half years.

Teenage suicide rates are down according to coroners around the country. Mental health is an issue spoken more about now than it was six years ago.”

Donal’s commitment to human rights issues in his final months has inspired Elma to extend his mission into advocating for Pro-Life rights and education in Ireland. As keynote speaker of the June 2019 Ceiliuradh Cois Life, the Annual Dinner for Pro-life Education, Elma emphasised, “as human beings, we all have the right to life and the right to live it up to the last day we naturally pass away.”

Reflecting to The Irish Catholic upon her address, Elma reveals that Donal’s advocation for everyone, especially young people, to respect their lives and the time they’ve been given on this earth, remains at the heart of everything herself and the #LiveLife Foundation stands for, including supporting for Pro-Life education.

“Everything we say relates back to what Donal said on television,” Elma says.

Christmas has transformed hugely for our family…it’s a different type of Christmas, but he’s still well-remembered…”

Christmastime does not prove exempt of Donal’s influence and memory. For the Walsh family, Christmas has drastically changed since Donal’s departure. “It’s always is,” Elma says in response to the question of whether it’s harder for the family to cope with his loss during Christmastime.

“Christmas has transformed hugely for our family since Christmas. It’s not the same anymore, it’s a different type of Christmas, but he’s still well-remembered, and all his cousins and his friends come around at Christmas. And he’s still remembered throughout the local community as well,” Elma says.

Elma recalls her favourite memories of Christmas during Donal’s lifetime. Donal always “had a huge energy around the house”, especially at Christmas, Elma says. When Donal and his older sister, Jema, were children, Elma describes how she would feed their boundless energy and fantasies.

“They used to be up at 4am running down to see what Santa left behind. One morning I left a shovel on top on the coal bucket, and I just put it at the edge so that when they opened the door it would fall, and it did, and they ran upstairs and thought Santa was still in the house,” she laughs.

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Donal’s last Christmas, one that took great strength on Donal’s part to make, Elma reflects on as the family’s most meaningful Christmas. Donal “absolutely loved Christmas”, and they wanted to make his last Christmas a very special one for him, and a memorable celebration that the Walsh family would be able to look back on fondly.

“We got Santa to come to the house that Christmas,” Elma says. “Santa surprised us all with different things and different toys and remote-control toys and everything and we had a great day with friends and family. Great memories of that Christmas.”

However, the Christmas family traditions have remained the same, as to stay true to how Donal loved to spend Christmas. “We stick to what he liked and what he used to do at Christmastime. He loved company, he loved his family and cousins and friends. He just loved company and talking and that’s what we still do,” Elma says.

Quiet 
life

Elma describes Donal’s spirit and character, especially during Christmas, as exemplary. Even in his darkest days, Donal always focused on making the world brighter for those around him. Donal was always giving, especially at Christmastime, even in the simplest of ways. “He loved Christmas.

He loved giving. Always throughout the years, it didn’t have to be Christmas, but he was always giving. You know, if he had €5 he’d go down to the shop and bring us all back a bar of chocolate.”

Although Donal may no longer physically be here, Elma says that Donal’s company and love of giving is very much alive and present in her own life. “I feel his company every day,” Elma says. “As I always say, if he kept his mouth shut, we would’ve had a quiet life, so he’s keeping us on our toes, he still is.

“When something happens, you have to have a laugh and say Donal definitely did that or Donal definitely meant for that to happen. You can see and feel his presence all the time and see he would have done something that would go out of his way. He was a great character, and had great wit, and he’d go out of his way to entertain people.

“He’s still entertaining us,” Elma remarks.

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Donal’s love of giving, care for other, concern for the greater good, and steadfast faith we can all look to this Christmas as example of how we should lead faithful lives and honour the true meaning of Christmas.

Elma explains that the most fundamental way one can get involved in the #LiveLife movement is by treating the people around us with the same kindness and attention Donal gave in his lifetime to both his loved ones and those he didn’t know that were struggling to cope with troubling emotions and hardships in their lives.

She says that Donal’s message is about “making the most of your life and appreciating your life while you have it. He always wanted people to better themselves and to do well for themselves and appreciate how lucky they are to be able to walk around and to have health”.

Elma encourages everyone to “look out for your friends and loved ones”, and to not shy away from the important conversations with our family and friends that may be hard to have, like being open and honest about mental health.

Even in his darkest days, Donal always focused on making the world brighter for those around him”

As for the #LiveLife Foundation, the organisation strives to do the same – to provide an example for others, especially young people, about how to care for others, and to emphasise that life is always worth living. “Our part in [the foundation] is really to talk about Donal and encourage people to do what he said,” Elma says.

The work of the #LiveLife Foundation Elma describes as constantly progressing. Advocation for mental health awareness is a mission that should never quiet, she stresses, and additionally, says that the bettering of hospital and hospice care for teenagers is an ongoing process.

“The conditions for teenagers in hospitals isn’t improved much, but were stilling working on it and hoping on it, we do what we can,” Elma says.

Elma describes the celebration of Donal’s message and memory as a year-long affair, and for readers to keep Donal in their thoughts beyond the Christmas season.

She extends her invitation for all to attend Donal’s anniversary Mass – a day that honours Donal’s memory and mission with the Eucharist and a series of mental health speakers and workshops – which will be held at Knock for the third consecutive year this upcoming spring on May 7.