Dublin siblings embark on four-peaks challenge in honour of brother who died of rare cancer

The brother and sister of a young Dublin man who died earlier this year from a rare and aggressive cancer are this weekend attempting the “four-peaks challenge” to raise funds for medical research into the disease.

On Friday, the pair, Nicholas and Isabelle O’Keeffe, together with more than a dozen friends, climbed 1,038m-high Carrauntoohil mountain in Co Kerry. On Saturday they hope to summit Ben Nevis (1,345m) in Scotland, then Scafell Pike (978m) in England and finally, on Sunday, Snowden (1,085m) in Wales.

The four-peaks challenge involves scaling all four mountains, the highest in each country, within 48 hours.

Last January, their brother Philip, the 28-year-old youngest son of eye surgeon Prof Michael O’Keeffe and his wife, Eleanor, died 16 months after being diagnosed with alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma. He underwent nine rounds of chemotherapy, followed by radiation treatment in the UK but, despite best medical efforts, at the end of the treatment, a scan showed the cancer had in fact spread.

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He returned to his childhood home in Delgany in December 2021 for a final Christmas with his family and died shortly afterwards. At his funeral, his father spoke movingly of his son’s bravery, strength and optimism throughout his ordeal, and praised the efforts of his medical colleagues to save him.

Philip’s siblings have chosen Sarcoma UK as the recipient charity of their fundraising efforts.

“For his rare cancer there just aren’t the treatment facilities in Ireland,” said Isabelle, en route to Scotland from Kerry on Friday.

She added that because of its comparative rarity, research into alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, a soft tissue cancer with a poor survival rate, had attracted less funding than some other cancer research projects and diagnosis also often tended to be late.

Anyone wishing to donate, may do so at https://www.justgiving.com/team/TeamPhilOK