The Sinn Fein president’s husband Martin Lanigan was diagnosed with colorectal cancer last year - while Mary was recovering from a hysterectomy
Mary Lou McDonald spoke publicly for the first time about her husband’s cancer diagnosis as well as her father’s recent passing on Morning Ireland . The Sinn Fein president’s husband Martin Lanigan was diagnosed with colorectal cancer last year - while Mary was recovering from a hysterectomy.
Martin spent a number of weeks in intensive care in a French hospital after he became seriously ill while the couple and their family were on holiday. “Literally between packing the case to come home and arriving at the airport Martin got really, really sick,” said Mary on Morning Ireland Thursday. READ MORE: Sinn Féin's Mary Lou McDonald speaks out following hysterectomy and successful tumour removalShe continued: “I didn’t know what it was but I knew it was serious.” Mary said doctors saved her husband’s life after he was rushed to a hospital in Biarritz where they learned that his bowel had burst. During emergency surgery, doctors found a tumour and Martin was later diagnosed with colorectal cancer. As a result, Martin spent several weeks in intensive care in France with Mary remaining by his side. “It was one of those moments in life where literally everything got turned upside down,” Mary said, adding that she worried she would not be able to get her husband home to Ireland. Martin’s prognosis is now positive, but it took time before Mary felt she could discuss her husband's health publicly. The couple have been married since 1996 and share two children together, Gearoid and Iseult. Separately, last month the politician's father Patrick ‘Paddy’ McDonald passed away, with Mary admitting it's been a "very eventful” and “tough year”. “We buried my father five weeks ago. Anyone who has lost their Da knows that it’s a very hard thing. It’s a complete game change. “I love my Da but we had a complicated relationship, he was a complicated person,” Mary said, explaining that her parents were separated for most of her life. “It’s kind of a strange thing, you lose your father so you have the grief of that but it’s not a straightforward grief if that makes sense,” she added. Taking to Twitter after opening up about her personal life, Mary wrote: “This morning I talked with Muireann and Tommy about my husband’s battle with cancer over the last year, and my Da’s passing in July.“That’s what makes Ireland such a great country”.
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