Having raised over €90,000 in the last two years, the Twomey Family Remorial Weekend returns to Meelin and Rockchapel in North Cork from 11-12 June.The celebration of community, sport and fun was set up by Elber Twomey in memory of her husband Connie, 16-month-old son Oisin and unborn baby daughter Elber Marie, who lost their lives after a suicidal driver collided with their car while they were on holidays in England in July 2012.
Having raised over €90,000 in the last two years, the Twomey Family Remorial Weekend returns to Meelin and Rockchapel in North Cork from 11-12 June.
The celebration of community, sport and fun was set up by Elber Twomey in memory of her husband Connie, 16-month-old son Oisin and unborn baby daughter Elber Marie, who lost their lives after a suicidal driver collided with their car while they were on holidays in England in July 2012.
“The aim of our weekend is to remember with love and honour Connie, baba Oisin and baby Elber Marie and to promote the reality of how precious life is,” explains Elber of the weekend, which will open with the Connie Twomey juvenile memorial cup, followed by a family walk, a four-mile run in association with Duhallow Athletics and a table quiz on Saturday night.
Sunday sees a 55k and 110k cycle in association with Kanturk cycling club, as well as 10am mass for all the people who have supported the family since 6 July 2012.
This year, four charities will benefit from the proceeds of the weekend: 3Ts (Turn The Tide On Suicide), online youth mental health service Reach Out, Walk In My Shoes, which provides mental health education for young people, and Brú Columbanus, which provides “home from home” accommodation for relatives of seriously ill people in any of the Cork hospitals or hospice.
Elber stayed at Brú Columbanus for the last six weeks before her husband Connie passed away, and describes it as an “extraordinary service” that delivered both compassion and privacy at a difficult time.
“You know yourself, you have enough issues going on without having to explain why you’re staying somewhere long term and, like that, when somebody is very seriously ill, you don’t know when you’re actually going home,” she says.
“And literally when Con left, I didn’t expect him to go, but all you did in Brú is you signed the sheet in the morning saying: ‘I’m staying tonight.’”
Since the accident, Elber has dedicated herself to campaigning for the introduction of specific garda and police training in suicide awareness and how to apprehend suicidal drivers.
Listen to an interview with junior minister for mental health Helen McEntee below
Last October, for example, she was invited to address the TISPOL European policing road safety conference on vulnerable road users and driver suicide. Meanwhile, the primary school teacher has also returned to college to study for a master’s in accountancy.
However, on 11 and 12 June, her heart will be firmly in Meelin and Rockchapel, as the community comes together to remember her family.
“Leading up to the weekend, there are many road verges to be checked, roads to be marked, sandwiches to be made and cakes to be baked,” she says.
“This is all done by wonderful members of the community without any ceremony, without whom we could not keep our weekend alive and so successful.”
For a full programme of events and to register for the run, walk or cycle, see www.twomeyfamilyremorial.com CL
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