Local boy's charity cycle in memory of his grandfather

A kind-hearted boy in Athlone spent his seventh birthday taking part a 32km charity cycle in memory of his grandfather, who died unexpectedly in India just twelve days earlier.

Coosan NS pupil Kaushal Sethiya completed the charity challenge as a tribute to his granddad, Subhash Sethiya.

As a result of Kaushal's efforts, over €1,000 was raised for the Irish charity, Alone, which supports older people.

Donations were made through a GoFundMe page set up by his family, and a second fundraising page in India also generated 22,000 Rupees for a charity there.

Kaushal is a son of Kamlesh Sethiya, who works for medical device company, Renew Health, and his wife Vrushali, who works for Ericsson. He has a four-year-old sister, Venisha.

Kaushal's grandfather (Kamlesh's father) was 70 years of age when he died on May 17. Kamlesh explained that his Dad had been sick for a few days but his death was unexpected, and because of Covid-19, they were unable to travel back to India.

The family originally hails from a city called Pune, in a western part of India, but the deceased was no stranger to Athlone.

"He was here last year. My Mum and Dad used to come every couple of years, for a month or two, so Ireland wasn't new to them," explained Kamlesh.

"He liked coming here and he enjoyed some typical things, like going to Supermac's and having curry chips and Papa John's pizza! There were things he liked here, and he enjoyed spending time with the grandkids."

With Kaushal's birthday (May 28) coming so soon after his grandfather's passing, the family came up with the idea of organising a tribute to him and Kaushal added his own suggestions.

"Myself and my wife started instilling some ideas in his head and he came on board very quickly and added his own ideas," said Kamlesh.

On the day of the cycle, with a few breaks factored in, Kaushal and his Dad managed to complete over 32km in less than three and a half hours.

"It was pretty warm that day, it was 25 degrees. So we tried to manage it within the 5km (lockdown) limit, backwards and forwards, and he did it.

"When we started he said to me, 'Daddy, don't worry, I'm not going to give up for my granddad'. What was in our head was - we can't see granddad now, so at least we can help other elderly people.

"We had a small cake ceremony (for the birthday) at home but Kaushal didn't ask for a gift or anything, so we felt he was being very sensible for such a small child," said his father.

The family had hoped to raise €500 for Alone through the 'Go Fund Me' page but they ended up generating more than twice that amount, with donations from family and school friends, neighbours, and Kamlesh and Vrushali's work colleagues.

"We would like to thank all the donors and supporters for all of their encouragement," said Kamlesh, whose pride at his son's willingness to give up his birthday for such a noble cause was evident when he spoke to the Westmeath Independent last week.

Kaushal is involved in the GAA locally, through the Athlone and Southern Gaels clubs. "He's very much an Irish Indian, not Indian Irish!" his father laughed.

The Go Fund Me page for Kaushal's fundraiser can be found here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/cycle-for-alone-in-memory-of-my-grandad/