Every kilometre becomes more meaningful when so many people help honour his memory
Grief, when it arrives without warning, can either still a family or set them in motion. For the Laabeis of Naas, who lost their father — a consultant surgeon and devoted family man — to small-cell lung cancer just weeks after his diagnosis in November 2023, it has done the latter. Each August, they transform their mourning into kilometers, cycling 250km from Naas to Croagh Patrick and ascending its summit, not merely to remember, but to fund the research that might spare other families the same sudden silence.
- Small-cell lung cancer took their father within weeks of diagnosis — a disease so aggressive it allows no time for farewell, let alone preparation.
- The family now channels that rupture into the Pedal to Peak Challenge, an annual 250km cycle and mountain climb that has become their most meaningful ritual.
- All funds raised go directly to Trinity-St James's Cancer Institute, targeting one of the most underfunded cancers in research — a cause their father, a surgeon who believed in science, would have championed himself.
- With €280 raised toward a €7,000 goal ahead of their August 14, 2026 challenge, the distance between grief and impact is still being pedaled, one donation at a time.
In November 2023, the Laabei family lost their father to small-cell lung cancer — a diagnosis that became a death within weeks, leaving no room between knowing and losing. He was a consultant surgeon, a husband, a father, a grandfather: a man who had spent his life trusting science to save others.
Two years on, the family has built something from that loss. Each August, they undertake the Pedal to Peak Challenge — a 250km cycle from Naas to the foot of Croagh Patrick, followed by an ascent of the mountain itself. This August will mark their third time. The route is demanding by design; the grief it carries makes it more so.
Every euro raised goes to the Trinity-St James's Cancer Institute, directed at research into the very disease that took him — one that remains chronically underfunded despite its lethality. For the Laabeis, the challenge is not about athletic achievement. It is about honoring a man who believed in discovery, and pushing forward the work he never got to see completed.
With their GoFundMe at €280 of a €7,000 target ahead of the August 14 event, the climb — literal and figurative — is still very much underway.
In November 2023, the Laabei family received a diagnosis that would reshape everything. Their father had small-cell lung cancer. Within weeks, he was gone. The disease moves with a violence that leaves no time for adjustment, no space between knowing and losing. The family's world, as they would later describe it, changed forever.
Two years have passed since then, and the family has found a way to transform grief into motion. This August, they will cycle 250 kilometers from their home in Naas to the base of Croagh Patrick, then climb the mountain itself—all 2,500 feet of it. It is their third time undertaking what they call the Pedal to Peak Challenge, an annual ritual that has become their way of honoring their father's memory while pushing for progress against a disease that killed him so quickly.
Their father was a consultant surgeon, a man who believed in the power of science to save lives. That belief shapes everything the family does now. When they cycle, when they climb, when they ask others to donate, they are not simply remembering him. They are trying to finish the work he valued most—the work of research, of discovery, of turning knowledge into survival.
Small-cell lung cancer is among the most aggressive forms of the disease and remains chronically underfunded in research. The family has chosen to direct all proceeds from this year's challenge to the Trinity-St James's Cancer Institute, betting that their effort, multiplied by the effort of others who support them, might accelerate the kind of breakthroughs that could have changed their father's story. So far, their GoFundMe has raised €280 toward a €7,000 target. The challenge is set for August 14, 2026.
In their own words, the family framed the challenge this way: it is not about the distance. It is about carrying forward a legacy—a devoted husband, a father, a grandfather, a surgeon who understood that science saves lives. Every kilometer, they said, becomes more meaningful when so many people are helping to honor his memory while supporting a cause that matters. With each pedal stroke, with each step up the mountain, they are pushing for progress, one breakthrough at a time.
Citas Notables
This challenge isn't about the distance; it's about carrying forward our Dad's legacy as a devoted husband, father and grandfather, and remembering the brilliant Consultant Surgeon he was.— The Laabei family
Small-cell lung cancer remains one of the most aggressive and underfunded forms of cancer research.— The Laabei family
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why a cycling challenge specifically? Why not a different kind of fundraiser?
Because movement matters when you're grieving. Sitting still with loss is unbearable. A cycle gives you something to do with the weight of it—you push it forward, kilometer by kilometer. And Croagh Patrick, the mountain at the end, it's a pilgrimage. That's what this is.
The father was a surgeon. Did that shape how the family thinks about the research they're funding?
Absolutely. He believed in science as a tool for saving lives. That wasn't abstract for him—it was his work. So when the family raises money for cancer research now, they're not just honoring him. They're continuing what he stood for. They're finishing his argument.
Small-cell lung cancer is underfunded. Why do you think that is?
It's aggressive and relatively rare compared to other cancers, so it doesn't get the same attention or resources. But that's exactly why the family chose it. They're not chasing the popular cause. They're going after the one that killed their father, the one that needs the help most.
This is their third year doing this. Does the ritual change them?
Ritual doesn't erase grief, but it transforms it. The first year was raw. By the third year, there's structure to it, community around it. People know what it means. That doesn't make it easier, but it makes it purposeful.
What does €7,000 actually fund in cancer research?
It depends on the institute, but at that level it might fund part of a researcher's salary for months, or equipment, or a small clinical trial. It's not transformative on its own, but it's real. And when you multiply it across many donors, across many challenges, it becomes something.