A young Co Armagh mum battling cancer died thanks to having to travel to London for treatment that was available 60 miles down the road, councillors have been told.
Councillors heard that Ballymoyer woman Catherine Sherry, who passed away in May, faced “repeated air travel while she was severely immuno-suppressed”, which weakened the 42-year-old “and left her unable to fight the infection which led to her death”.
The death was behind a motion at Newry, Mourne and Down District Council (NMDDC) this week amid ongoing anger over how the mum-of-three had to travel to London for CAR-T cell treatment despite it being available in Dublin.
The Council approved the motion linking air travel to London to the toll on Mrs Sherry’s health, while an option for a short drive from home to a Dublin hospital might have saved her.
Bringing forward the motion on behalf of the Sherry family, SDLP representative Killian Feehan said: “I must commend the incredible strength and bravery of Fergal Sherry and his and Catherine’s sons who have been campaigning for CAR-T cell treatment to be made available to patients in the North at St James’s Hospital in Dublin.
“I can’t begin to imagine how difficult it was to lose their wife and mother in such circumstances on 12 May 2025.
“Catherine’s treatment was working, but the repeated air travel while she was severely immuno-suppressed weakened Catherine and left her unable to fight the infection which led to her death. She passed away far from home and far from her children.
“And here is the devastating truth, the treatment that Catherine needed was just 60 miles down the road in Dublin, but she wasn’t able to access it. Why?
“Because there is still no agreement between the Department of Health (DoH) in the North and their counterpart in Dublin to allow Northern patients to access this specialist therapy in the Republic, despite it being routinely delivered in St James’s Hospital.
“This is not a capacity or funding issue, it is quite simply a political failure. No mother should have to leave her children behind to fight for her life in another country.
“No family should get a call to say ‘she is going to die’, when the system itself has failed to give her the best fighting chance close to home.”
Mrs Sherry passed away at King’s College Hospital, London, while receiving CAR-T treatment, a personalised form of immuno-therapy that reprograms a patient’s own immune cells to fight cancer.
Catherine’s aunts Ann and Marie, who looked after her children whilst she travelled to London for therapy, attended NMDDC chamber in support of the motion.
The Sherry family has since led a campaign to change current NHS policy, with claims the emotional and physical toll of having to travel long distances for care resulted in his wife’s untimely death.
Cllr Feehan added: “Nobody should have to go through the experience of the Sherry family, particularly when this treatment is available so close to home.
“We have seen the success of cross-border cancer services in the past, allowing patients to access care closer to home and within reach of their families. I believe we need to see the same approach with CAR-T cell therapy.
“We commend Fergal and his sons who are now advocating for the treatment to be made available to other cancer patients from the North in Dublin and acknowledge the Department of Health has an existing Memorandum of Understanding on all island cancer services signed following the Good Friday Agreement.
“We further recognise that CAR-T therapy will not be available in Northern Ireland until 2031 at the earliest. The SDLP is urging Health Ministers Mike Nesbitt (NI) and Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (RoI) to begin urgent negotiations to make the changes necessary so that patients can access this treatment in Ireland, without having to travel long distances, and with the support of their family around them.
“We can all make a collective call on government to act now on an all island path for CAR-T therapy. The infrastructure exists, the expertise exists, the only thing that is missing is political will.”
