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05th Dec 2018

PIC: This Dubliner Collects Christmas Lights For A Heartbreaking Reason

Darragh Berry

While Christmas is known for being a time of joy and family where you meet up with old friends to celebrate the festivities, for some, it can be a very sad and lonely time.

The latest ‘Humans Of Dublin’ post shows that ‘giving’ at Christmas time doesn’t have to be all about presents.

This gentleman started collecting Christmas lights to raise money to help care for his wife and then, he was hit with another blow.

The post says:

“I started collecting Christmas lights years ago to raise money for my wife’s care. She had MS and I used to do all sorts of fundraisers for her before she passed away.

“We had buckets and a sign about what we were raising for and people were so generous. After she died, I donated all the lights to my neighbours down the road for a school Christmas sale.

“Then my grandson was born and he was diagnosed with Cri-du-chat syndrome… He is very sick and his treatment is expensive so I started to collect lights again to help out with the costs.

“We raised a generous amount last year. I hope that over the next few weeks our street is going to be very busy with cars stopping by and whole families coming to see the lights and to take photos. For me, it’s already cathartic to see all the children’s faces light up through my window.”

Children with Cri-du-chat often have a high-pitched cry that sounds similar to a cat crying.

It occurs when a piece of chromosome 5 is missing.

Main image via Humans of Dublin.

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