Making Moments Matter

Making Moments Matter: Irish lung cancer patients and families affected by this cancer share the moments that matter most to them

More than 2,700 Irish people every year receive the devastating news of a lung cancer diagnosis. While lung cancer remains the biggest cancer killer in Ireland, early diagnosis and medical advances can be critical to ensuring patients gain precious extra time.

  • The Marie Keating Foundation campaign was launched in Dublin to coincide with Lung Cancer Awareness Month, November 2019
  • Hope exists for patients despite poor survival rates and increasing prevalence rate

Last year alone, 2,749 people were diagnosed with Lung Cancer, a disease which kills more people than colorectal cancer and breast cancer combined [II].

Lung cancer is currently the biggest cancer killer in Ireland, with rates of lung cancer set to more than double in the next 20 years. The National Cancer Registry in Ireland has predicted that lung cancer rates among women will increase by as much as 136% by 2040[viii].


Making Moments Matter is an important campaign, which hopes to highlight just how significant ‘extra time’ is in the lives of patients and survivors of lung cancer when combating the odds and the poor survival rates associated with this disease.

Only 20% of people will be alive five years after a lung cancer diagnosis.

However, there is hope for Irish lung cancer patients. This is highlighted within the stories on display at the Temple Bar Gallery as part of the Making Moments Matter campaign. When patients are given extra time as a direct result of early intervention, diagnosis and treatment, they can collect and enjoy more moments and memories with their families and loved ones. Equally, sharing memories of loved ones lost to lung cancer helps raise awareness of the impact lung cancer can have when only caught at late stage, focussing on the importance of early detection and increasing symptom awareness. 


The 'Making Moments Matter' Stories

‘Making Moments Matter’ sees patients and families from all over the country tell the stories of significant moments in their lives since being diagnosed with lung cancer or losing a loved one. Working closely together with artist Steven Farrell, each patient crafted their own ‘memento jar’ to help tell their personal story, contributing tokens that illustrate the preciousness of these extra moments, and how much they mattered to them and their loved ones. Read the stories of the participants who created jars for the campaign below. 


More Lung Cancer Information from Marie Keating


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