Working Life: ‘There’s been a lot of cancer in my family. It touches everyone’

Avril Deegan, childhood cancer survivor and researcher

Fri, 29 Aug, 2025 - 01:00

Catherine Shanahan

“I was diagnosed with childhood leukaemia at the age of five. I had two-and-a-half years of treatment, but I don’t remember much, probably because I was so young or because the brain blocks it out. It’s possible a lot of it went over my head.

“Now that I’m older (26), I think about it more and about the traumatic effect it must have had on my family. From speaking to my parents, they found the period after treatment ended very difficult.

“You are left out the door with no follow-up, no survivorship care. It’s fantastic that you have been cured, but it’s a huge adjustment. After years of structured treatment, you’re expected to return to normal life.

“I studied psychology for my undergraduate degree in DCU because I was interested in how the mind works. I went straight into a PhD and my research is focused on asking childhood leukaemia survivors and their parents about their post-treatment lives — where they see gaps and where they think improvements can be made.

Avril Deegan, childhood cancer survivor and researcher. Picture: Joleen Cronin

Breakthrough Cancer Research and Research Ireland fund my work, and it turns out that the doctor who treated me when I was attending Crumlin hospital — professor Owen Smith — is on my supervision team.

“Thankfully, I’ve suffered no long-term effects from my treatment, and I’ve made a full recovery. Survival rates are over 90% for childhood cancer but that doesn’t make it any less stressful. What’s really needed is a survivorship programme. Ireland is doing fantastically well at treating cancer, but aftercare is lagging a lot.

“Adolescents have a particularly tough time. Having cancer on top of everything else that goes on in the teenage years is so hard — and then there’s no support there for them after treatment finishes. Body image is an issue, as well as identity, and trying to move away from the label of cancer. Many find it hard to reintegrate into their own age groups.

“Recently I was asked for an item that represents my story of cancer for inclusion in an exhibition by Breakthrough Cancer Research, currently underway in Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre, Dublin, which runs until October 31. I put in a Freddy Bag, worn around the neck to store the tubes used to deliver treatment intravenously.

“There’s been a lot of cancer in my family. It touches everyone.”