Bed Push by Patrick Murray

We made it through the rain..
It was all worth pushing it.

Irishman 'bed-pushes' for ailing kids

By TARA YAP

February 9, 2011, 5:47pm

ILOILO CITY, Iloilo – An Irishman has undertaken a unique way to raise funds for underprivileged children diagnosed with cancer.

Patrick Murray, 65, pushed a bed from Iloilo Provincial Capitol to Treñas Blvd. to show, in an urgent manner, the plight of seven children diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia and in an effort to raise funds for their chemotherapy treatment.

“I want everyone to be inspired by this,” Murray emphasized.

The Irishman, who is a football player and postal worker, is a native of Cork, Ireland. At a young age, he became a volunteer to “help the needy, the deprived, and the underprivileged.”

Murray pioneered bed-pushing in public as a fundraising activity when he was 17 and his endeavor grew when he moved to London, England. In 1982, he bed-pushed for 500 miles from London to Cork., raising £1,500 for the Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Fund.

Proceeds of Murray’s first Philippine bed-push was donated to Mga Kaibigan ng mga Kabataang may Kanser (KKK), an organization that funds medical treatment for cancer-stricken children in Iloilo and Guimaras.

“He is very compassionate and has a passion to help sick children,” said KKK president Dr. Ma. Socorro Martinez.

Martinez continues to appeal for help to raise funds for sickly children under the KKK’s care.

“Most of them die because the treatments they need are not obtained due to financial constraints,” Martinez said.

Aside from bed-pushing, Murray has also raised funds by fasting. He once fasted underneath London’s Hammersmith Bridge to raise money for then 4-year-old Ellen Ramirez. The Filipino child was diagnosed with congenital brain abnormality.

On an annual basis, Murray also gives books, toys, medicines, clothes, and food to the underprivileged children of Oton.

“My work has been tough, blood, sweat, and tears,” Murray said.