Tipperary family walk the Camino to remember Damien Ruth and raise funds for CRY

Members of a Clonmel family have raised over €9,000 for an adult sudden death support group in memory of their brother, who died four years ago.

Brothers Brian and Brendan Ruth and their cousin Alison Cronin walked the Camino in northern Spain to raise funds for CRY, which supports families that have lost loved ones to Sudden Cardiac Death or Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS).

Damien Ruth from Honeyview Estate died four years ago and is still sorely missed by all his family.

Says Brian Ruth - “It’s been four years since we lost our wonderful brother Damien to sudden death syndrome. Losing Damien has and continues to be absolutely devastating for our family, Damien’s fiancé Jessica and his many friends. We all miss him dearly”.

Brian adds that shortly after Damien’s passing they  were put in touch with CRY, who have supported the Ruth family throughout their immense loss. 

CRY help to raise awareness of the condition known as Sudden Cardiac Death or Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS) through media campaigns and information meetings, and provide free counselling and support for families affected by sudden death or cardiac conditions. 

So to help CRY, Brian, Brendan and Alison walked the Camino to raise funds for the organisation.

“We did it and while it was a lot tougher than expected, it was a wonderful experience”, says Brian.

“It started on a flight out of Dublin that was full with everyone heading off with the same goal - completing the Camino in one piece. They were from Alzheimer’s Ireland, NCBI, Focus Ireland and many more so we had plenty of company along the way”.

The Clonmel group enjoyed wonderful experiences along the way, including walking with representatives from the Blind Society of Ireland.

And they also had the great experience of meeting Johnny from Mullingar who was doing the full 800km walk and it turned out he was a friend with Damien from his time in Australia.

“If anyone has ever thought about doing the Camino I couldn’t recommend it highly enough”, Brian continues.

“We thank everyone who supported us. With all your support we managed to raise over €9,000, which is an incredible amount and will go a long way to helping CRY continue to carry out the wonderful work they do”.