The Co Galway girl who appeared on the Late Late Toy Show as an amputee and inspired its charity appeal has died aged 12.
Saoírse Ruane, from Kiltullagh, died on Tuesday morning having been diagnosed in 2019 with a rare form of bone cancer called Osteosarcoma. The cancer first presented as a tumour in her leg.
As a consequence she had to have her right leg amputated in March 2020 and was fitted with a prosthetic limb. She appeared on that year’s Late Late Toy Show that year. Her mother Roseanna described her appearance with Ryan Tubridy as the “biggest reward she could ever receive for enduring such a cruel illness”.
Community Foundation Ireland chief executive Denise Charlton said Saoírse was the catalyst for the Toy Show appeal which began in 2020 during the depths of the Covid-19 pandemic.
That appeal in 2020 raised €6 million and has since raised €21 million for different causes. “Despite the incredible health challenges that she had, what you felt was this calm positivity and resilience. That was when the appeal took off‚” she told RTÉ’s News at One programme.
“The country really engaged and the internet crashed. People wanted to donate so much after she spoke. It was her story and her positivity and her generosity that evoked the generosity of others.”
President Michael D Higgins has sent his condolences to the family and posted photographs on his X account from when she visited Áras an Uachtaráin. “Saoírse’s strength and warmth was an inspiration to all,” he said.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin, who has lost two children, said he was “very saddened by the heartbreaking passing of Saoírse Ruane.
He posted on X: “Fond memories of meeting Saoírse & her mother Roseanna in Croke Park, seeing her radiant smile & love of GAA. She leaves behind an extraordinary legacy in the Toy Show Appeal. Deepest sympathies to her family & friends.”
In June 2022, Ms Ruane was told she had cancer for a second time and required an operation at Crumlin hospital, Dublin, to remove a tumour from her lung.
Two months later her mother spoke at Knock Shrine where she said the trauma of watching a child go through cancer was “unimaginable”.
Mrs Ruane has amassed a large following on Instagram where she regularly posts updates about her daughter’s condition. In November last year she shared the news that the cancer that she thought had been contained to one lung had spread to the other.
“Saoírse is the bravest soul we know and her one and only request on hearing this heartbreaking news last night was to put up the Christmas tree. So that’s what we are doing, putting up the decorations ahead of [the] Toy Show,” she stated. “As always we ask you to continue to pray for our brave resilient girl.”
In an Instagram post her mother Roseanna said her daughter “took her final breath in our arms on Tuesday.
“Cancer you stole her from us, the life we had and our dreams. Life will never be the same! We ask you to respect our privacy now as we take our last and final journey with our beautiful girl. Mamma Dadda & Farrah Rose.”
Saoírse’s death notice on rip.ie describes her as “adored daughter to Ollie and Roseanna, big sister to Farrah Rose, half-sister to Rebecca, granddaughter to Anne Ruane and Tony and Ann Brehony, an adored niece, cousin, family member and of course, best friend to Willow and Slush, was loved beyond words and will be missed beyond measure.
“A pupil of Kiltullagh National School, Saoírse will be missed but always remembered by her school friends and teachers, who have travelled the road with Saoírse on her journey, and were a source of joy and fun to her.”
She was “loved beyond words and will be missed beyond measure,” her death notice reads.
Former Late Late Show presenter Ryan Tubridy also paid tribute to the young girl, saying Saoírse was a “selfless, humble, kind, optimistic and thoughtful child”.
“We became friends instantly when we met. She told her story, the Nation fell in love with her and a charity began because of her and with that she helped enrich and encourage the lives of thousands of children in Ireland,” Mr Tubridy continued.
“She was everything we should and could be as a country and her passing will put so much into perspective for so many of us,” he said in an Instagram post.
Her funeral will take place in Kiltullagh on Sunday.
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