Athlone woman completing sky dive in memory of late father this weekend

By Rebekah O'Reilly

Coosan native Rebecca Duddy and her friend Kayleigh Conway are completing a skydive in memory of her late father Mickey Duddy this Saturday, November 2.

The dive is part of a fundraiser which has raised over €3,400 for the Multiple System Atrophy (MSA) Trust, a charity very close to the Duddy families hearts.

Mickey passed on St Patrick's Day, 2022 after battling Multiple System Atrophy, a rare condition of the nervous system that causes gradual damage to nerve cells in the brain. It affects balance, movement and the autonomic nervous system.

The father-of-three had been experiencing symptoms of the disease since 2011.

He was finally diagnosed with MSA in May of 2017, and by June of that year he had to start using a wheelchair due to his loss in mobility.

Talking about Multiple System Atrophy, Rebecca shared that due to the rarity of the disease, doctors in Ireland and the UK are often uninformed on how to treat it - causing difficulties for families who are dealing with the diagnosis.

Writing on her fundraiser page, she said: "MSA is a very rare, incurable disease with around 3,500 people in the UK and Ireland currently living with it. This means that most people will never have heard of the condition, unless they themselves have already met someone with MSA.”

The 21-year-old set up a fundraiser in memory of her dad Mickey in April of this year with the support of her friend Kayleigh.

Rebecca and Kayleigh have expressed their sincere gratitude to all those who have supported her fundraising efforts.

She said that her dad would've been “right beside us jumping off the plane too because he was fearless right till the very end”.

To donate, search 'Skydive for Mickey Duddy, Multiple System Atrophy' on JustGiving.com.