"The conversation flowed. We laughed. We cried."
Cervical cancer campaigner Vicky Phelan has shared images of her meeting with former RTÉ broadcaster Charlie Bird, while announcing her intention to climb Croagh Patrick alongside him next year.
It's fair to say that the nation are firmly behind both Phelan and Bird at the moment, given their respective well-publicised struggles and the strength and bravery that both have shown the world.
Bird appeared on The Late Late Show on Friday night, delivering
a highly affecting interview in which he discussed living with Motor Neurone Disease.
"Every day is the same for me. I make no bones about this. I cry every day because of what happened to me," he told Ryan Tubridy.
"I'm fearful. I know we're all going to die. I've been told it's probably – they say one to three years.
"I've lost so much weight in the last few weeks. I probably won't have my voice in three or four months' time."
The following day, Bird took to Twitter to
thank the public for the outpouring of support he received.
"Yes I cried this morning but they were tears of joy at the overwhelming support I received for my Late Late Show appearance," he said.
"If I am still mobile in the Spring I will climb Croagh Patrick to highlight MND and other terminal illnesses.
"You're all invited to join me. I love you all."
One such individual who has taken Bird up on the invitation is Vicky Phelan, who met with Bird for tea and scones, subsequently sharing images of the pair together on Twitter on Monday afternoon.
"
The tea and scones have been had," she said.
"The conversation flowed. We laughed. We cried. We hugged – apologies in advance to the Covid brigade.
"We made plans to meet again. I have also been roped in to climb Croagh Patrick with Charlie and Claire [Mould] and the whole of Ireland, it appears."
https://twitter.com/PhelanVicky/status/1470382123114811392
Last month, Phelan
called on Irish politicians to grant terminally ill people the right to die via medical assistance on their own terms.
Speaking in the Sunday Times, Phelan noted that she doesn't understand what "holds politicians back" and thanked the public for their support to date.
“Nobody’s allowed to give you a magic injection to make you go any faster and I don’t want to be lingering for my kids," she said.
“Just because you believe something for your own reasons, whether they’re religious or other, you shouldn’t be imposing your beliefs on somebody else," Phelan added.
Phelan's comments arrive shortly after an appearance on
The Late Late Show in which she spoke candidly about her decision to cease chemotherapy treatment and her desire to spend Christmas with her chldren.
