Christine Murphy Whyte
Christine Murphy Whyte, pictured earlier this year, with the Crystal Clear Literacy Award for Europa Donna Ireland's 9 Things You Should Know About Breast Cancer campaign
It is with the deepest sadness that I write of the passing of Christine Murphy Whyte, chairperson of Europa Donna Ireland, the Irish Breast Cancer Campaign.
Christine was a tireless campaigner for evidence-based, best practice health policy changes to ensure access for all women to specialist breast centres in Ireland. She brought her past experience working in the disability sector to her role as EDI chairperson, and we will miss her intelligence, dynamism and energy in guiding and leading us as a committee. We will also miss her as a friend and will never forget her indomitable spirit. Illness didn’t halt Christine from working as hard as ever, and indeed she was busy making plans for our upcoming Breast Health Day in October right up to last week.
I have just been reading an e-mail from Susan Knox, Executive Director of Europa Donna, who paid a touching tribute to Christine. “She was a committed, dedicated advocate who fought the disease with grace and fortitude until the very end. She has provided us with an example of what an advocate should and can be….I would like to ask all of you wherever you are in the world right now to take a moment to think of Christine, her life and her work, and the ED goals to which she dedicated herself. These are our goals and we must now carry them forward and work even harder to achieve them to bring an end to this devestating illness.”
My thoughts are with Christine’s husband Michael, her sons and the rest of her family and many friends at this sad time. Christine was well-known among the cancer community here in Ireland and for those who may wish to pay their respects, details of Christine’s funeral arrangements may be found here.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam uasal
Sounds like she really made a difference. What a sad time for you all
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Cancer is a cruel disease which takes away our loved ones. So sorry to hear of Christine’s passing.
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Shocked and saddened to hear of Christine’s passing. She was a wonderful patient advocate and campaigner.
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May her soul rest in peace and her family and friends be comforted at this sad time.
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Christine was a powerful influence for good in Ireland and far beyond. Her strong clear call for improved services for women with breast cancer was respected by all who listened. She became an important voice of Europa Donna throughout Europe. Her joint presentation, supporting Specialist Breast Centres, with Ellen Venschuur at the European Breast Cancer Conference in Barcelona last March was a model of impressive advocacy. She was in the forefront of developing the leaflet “9 things you should know about breast cancer”. This award-winning leaflet, sent to 250,000 households in Ireland in areas where uptake for breast cancer screening was low, is bound to improve public education about breast cancer.
She was always keen to help others, was calm and measured in her comments and extraordinarily gracious and courteous to everyone. Everyone involved in one way or another with breast cancer is in her debt and will miss her greatly.
I extend my deep condolences to her family.
She was a heroic figure.
The impact of her work will endure.
May she rest in peace.
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Dear friends and advocates of the breast cancer cause,
I sorrow the dead of beloved and respected Christine
deeply. She was indeed a very lovely person, always
assisting people if needed in the fight for best practice in breast cancer services. But above all I will miss Christine as a dear friend. I express my deepest comdolances to Michail, her husband, her sons and all the family and friends.
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A lovely blog post Marie and I am sorry to hear of the passing of such a good friend to you as well as such a wonderful person.
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Such touching tributes to an inspirational lady.
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Rest in peace Christine.
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So sorry to hear of the passing of this fine cancer advocate
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Wonderful tributes to this cancer warrior.
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Very sad news
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pust angely hranyat pokoy Kristi
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So very shocked about Christine ,we in Malta wish to offer our deepest sympathy to her family . We know that her work for breast cancer patients has helped a lot of women and their families.
May she rest in peace and continues to look out for us all.
Gertrude Doris and all the committee
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Christine’s passing makes me believe even more in the fight against breast cancer and in our job at Europa Donna. I feel fortunate to have met Christine and she will be missed greatly as an advocate and as a friend.
My deepest condolences to Michael, her sons and her family.
May she rest in peace.
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We are very sad to have lost one of our EUROPA DONNA family members ,a wonderful and inspiring advocate and friend.She touched the lives of many women, and was an inspiring example to us, through her own personal strength and commitment- here far away in Cyprus, many of the women who have met her have expressed thier grief but also their determination to carry on her torch to change the world of breast cancer. To her family, husband and sons, to the ED ireland forum, we want to share with you that her 9 Steps leaflet is about to be printed in Greek to guide women here in the way she saw when she helped write it. Dear Christine, we will miss you for many attributes, but most of all we will miss you for your clear, determined vision in breast cancer care, and your warm friendship.May she rest in peace.
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We were saddened to learn of Christine’s passing. We have lost a great patient advocate for breast cancer.
May She Rest in Peace
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So very to hear of Christine’s passing my sincere condolonces to her husband, her boys and her colleagues in Europa Donna Ireland, Kathleen R
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Such sad news.
My condolences to Christine’s family and colleagues at Europa Donna Ireland.
Maria Lopez, Spain
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Dear EUROPA DONNA friends in Ireland.
I am deeply shocked hearing that Christine has lost her fight against breast cancer. I got to know her at the ED conferences in Stockholm and in Barcelona as a brilliant advocate with a clear vision of our work as breast cancer advocates. As breast cancer survivors we are grateful for the work Christine has did for us.
My deepest condolences to Christine’s family and to all ED friends in Ireland.
Tuula Hubler, Switzerland/Finnland
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Thank you Tuula for your kind comments on Christine. We miss her very much. Marie
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I worked with Christine from 2000 until 2004. I was her personal assistant for 2 years and remember the day that she was diagnosed with cancer. Christine was a fantastic person and so kind and generous. She has made a huge impact on both my personal life and career. It is so lovely to come across this lovely dedication to her. The photograph is beautiful. I am grateful to have known Christine and will miss her terribly.
Best of luck with your campaign and my condolences to Christine’s family and friends.
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Thank you Maighread for taking the time to pay tribute to Christine’s passing here. She is a huge loss to us as an organisation and as friend. Marie
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