An Irish teenager whose family couldn't be with his grandfather when he was grieving the death of his wife has decided to cycle the 775km distance between them as a caring gesture and to raise money for charity.
Sean Killeen, an 85-year-old Irishman living in London, lost his wife, Mary, to cancer seven weeks ago.
However, because of Covid-19 restrictions, his and Mary's adult children and grandchildren couldn't travel to the funeral and haven't been able to go and see Sean in London since Mary's passing.
"I had a fairly long life. I'm coming up to 85 years old. But I had one great bit of luck in my life, the woman I was with, Mary," Seán told RTE News. "My Mary was a very beautiful woman. I'm trying to do my best. I'm too old to cry at 85 but I have to."
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He added it was "unreal and not right" that his and Mary's children and grandchildren couldn't be with him at the graveside when his wife was buried
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Seeing that his grandfather was struggling with the distance between himself and his family back home in Ireland as he grieved, Sean's grandson in Co Galway, Philip Killeen (16), decided to do something tot make him feel better.
He measured the distance from his own home in Co Galway to his grandfather's home in London, at 775km. And Philip then decided to cycle that distance - within his 5km radius of his home and on a home trainer - so the distance apart might feel a little less for his grandfather.
Philip, who has more than 200km in the bag so far, said while his grandfather was "such a strong man" it was "hard to get him motivated right now" because he was isolated and grieving.
He added his regular updates about his cycling had helped his grandfather's mood until they could meet again soon. Philip is also raising money for cancer awareness, with more than €3,000 having come in so far.
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