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Katie Taylor says if she ever has a daughter she wants her to be like late pal Emma Hannigan
Boxing champ Katie Taylor says if she ever has a daughter she wants her to grow up to be like her late pal Emma Hannigan. The Bray slugger has spoken about their friendship in an RTE documentary which pays tribute to the inspirational mum-of-two who died of cancer last year.
Contributors including celebrity chef Rachel Allen and author Cathy Kelly are moved to tears as they recall Emma’s courage, wit and lasting legacy. Katie and Emma forged a deep friendship after they were both made ambassadors of Bray and discovered they had far more in common than just their Co Wicklow home town. Katie revealed: “She was a person I looked up to, but she was the one saying I was her hero and she looked up to me. I just couldn’t believe that. “I was blown away by her attitude to life. One of the things she said was we were both fighters. She was inspirational. “After every single competition, after every single fight, she was the first one to text me and I love how she ended every text message with ‘love and light’. “That is exactly who Emma was. She was a great example to me of how to live my life to the fullest. If I ever had a daughter, I would love for her to grow up to be like Emma.”10 cancer diagnoses in 11 years. Two weeks before her death, the 45-year-old shared a heart-wrenching post on social media revealing she was losing her battle with the disease. Emma wrote: “All good things must come to an end. The time I knew was borrowed must be given back soon, so it seems. “The conversation I never wanted to have has been said. My medical team have thrown everything at this fight but all avenues have now been exhausted.” In her final days, Emma raised €136,000 for Breast Cancer Ireland through sales of her book Letters To My Daughters. Her last novel Gift Of Friends became an instant best-seller when it was published earlier this year, raising more vital funds for the charity. In 2005, Emma decided to have a double mastectomy and had her ovaries removed after discovering she had the cancer-carrying gene BRCA1. Fighting back tears, chef Rachel said: “She didn’t want to leave her children... so it was always what she was going to do, to [reduce the] chance of getting cancer.”Her writer friend Cathy revealed: “A week after, I got a card from her. It said, ‘Don’t be sad, be happy and live your life’. The pure goodness of her and that embracing life, I loved that about her.How to follow the Irish Mirror on social media You can like our main Facebook page here. Our Irish Mirror Sports Page - which brings you all your Irish and UK sports news - can be found here.The Irish Mirror Twitter account is @IrishMirror while our sports page is @MirrorSportIE.
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