Not Dark Yet

Jade 17DEC18

very now and then, when you’re talking to Jade McCann, you have to stop and remind yourself that this bright young girl is dealing with incredibly dark and increasingly difficult days.

Ever since her cancer diagnosis in March bounced up to something terminal on July 4th, this 23-year-old Greystones girl has been quietly raging against the dying of the light.

Quietly because, well, to spend time with Jade McCann, you’d never guess the girl was ill. Perhaps it’s that big smile, perhaps it’s the constant joking, or just the calm way that she lists off the details of her Stage 4 sarcoma cancer, but, Jade McCann has an undeniable lust for life.

Which is, of course, one way – the best way – to face death; living each day as though there’s no tomorrow. For, as it will for each and every one of us, who knows when that old truism will finally come true.

So, today, on a wet Monday, down in The Beach House, Jade McCann is shining bright. Sure, she’s just on her way home from another regular visit to St Vincent’s, and has begun to settle into hibernation mode for Christmas, but the positive energy emanating from this vibrant girl is powerful enough to light up a thousand Christmas trees.

According to Jade, she gets that from her dad, Anthony, who, as horrible luck would have it, was diagnosed with prostate cancer just three weeks before his daughter got her bad news. “My mum, Kim, has been amazing too,” says Jade. “And my boyfriend, Bren, is there every single day for me. So, I’m very, very lucky…”

With The Parting Glass now available to download – get it here, kids, and now – we were lucky enough to catch Jade before that full festive hibernation kicks in, to talk living for today, laughing in the face of death, and knocking on neighbour Simon Harris’ front door…

You can also donate to Jade’s GoFundMe page here, and catch our March 2016 interview with Jade here.