“I let myself have a bad day but I always try to have a good day after.”
The Donegal Rose touched the nation last night by sharing the story of her cancer diagnosis.
20-year-old Chloe Kennedy discovered that she had cancer last year before she began studying in Maynooth University.
Born and raised in Donegal town, Chloe told Dáithí O’Sé on last night’s Rose Of Tralee that she finished her chemotherapy in April.
She said that she hopes her story will inspire others.
“Before I was diagnosed, I was feeling fine,” she said.
“I had a bit of a lump but I didn’t think much of it until I want to the doctor for something else and I mentioned it in passing and he said he knew from the start that he knew what it was. So we had to go get tests and we found out.
“It was actually my mum who told me and it didn’t feel real, it was kind of like you’re floating above yourself.”
Donegal Rose, Chloe Kennedy tells Dáithí about her cancer diagnosis and the day she received the all clear.#RoseofTralee pic.twitter.com/J29BqswFCB
— RTÉ One (@RTEOne) August 27, 2019
Chloe went on to say that it was harder seeing her parents tell other people about her cancer, because she knew that they would have more trouble getting through it.
“We’re a strong family and I found strength within myself I never knew I had,” she said.
“I let myself have a bad day but I always try to have a good day after, to get myself out of the house and push myself to keep going.
“I knew we could get through it and we did. We had such a great team around me, my doctors, my nurses. They’re phenomenal at keeping the spirits up.”
Chloe said that the day she got the all clear was “phenomenal.”
“It’s the best feeling in the world. I hope that people who get that diagnosis will hear that one day, I really do,” she said.
27-year-old Limerick Rose Sinéad Flanagan was crowned the winner of last night’s competition.
