25 Sep 2023 Community

Rugby League comes together to remember Darren Kane in tournament fundraiser on 30th September

There are very few communities that support each other with more passion than those who are in the Rugby League world. Fans of rugby league clubs regularly come together when things are tough and due to the down to earth nature of the sport, a tight knit bond can quickly develop between supporters of all clubs. Just like The Kirkwood Movement, rugby league brings people together in times of trouble or loss. That has happened recently as The Kirkwood Movement and the local rugby league community are coming together to remember a very loving husband and father Darren Kane.

Darren died on the 24th January 2023 at the age of 49 on The Kirkwood’s In-Patient Unit in Dalton, he was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2019. The rugby league community are running a tournament on the 30th September in memory of Darren and hoping to raise as much funds as possible for our charity.

Darren leaves behind a fantastic wife in Alex and three wonderful daughters in Libby, Zara and Kenzie. Alex explains the tough journey the family has been on since 2019, and emotionally speaks of her love for Darren.

She said: “We went to high school together at St John Fisher and started dating at the age of 15, buying our first home at 21. We had our first daughter Libby in 2001 now 22 and on the 1st June 2002 got married. 

“We had our second daughter Zara in 2003 now 20 and our third Daughter Kenzie in 2007 now 16. Down the years we had some fantastic days out and family holidays, when Darren was diagnosed this put everything into perspective, we made sure we spent as much family time together making more precious memoires.  

“Darren was a true family man his daughters were always his priority he loved them dearly and he was hugely proud of the young women they have grown up to be. They had an unbreakable bond which would be any father’s dream. 

“Darren worked extremely hard for the family, one of his latest achievements was renovating our current home single handily and in June 2022 buying his biggest dream our motor home. Darren left school at 16 and trained as a panel beater/paint sprayer. He was very talented in his profession and became a partner in the family business. In 2007 Darren decided to have a career change and passed his HGV 1&2 and started to work for a scaffolding company SCAS.”

As well as being talented in his profession and a loving family man, he also had a great love for the sport of rugby league and played it from a young age.

Alex continued: “Darren was a rugby player from a young age for St John Fisher and then continued to play for Dewsbury Celtic, who have arranged the Darren Kane Memorial trophy which will see six teams play for the trophy annually with the inaugural tournament taking place on the 30th September at Dewsbury Celtic.”

Alex has huge admiration for how The Kirkwood cared for Darren at the end of his life, she explained the difficult journey her family had to go through not only with Darren being diagnosed with cancer, but also having to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic a time none of us will every forget.

She said: “Darren was diagnosed with bladder cancer in August 2019 after several operations the doctors advised a radical cystectomy was required but due to the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020 the operation was delayed to December 2020. 

“Darren recovered well after the operation and after several months returned to work. After a routine scan at the end of 2021, we were told the bladder cancer was in Darren’s stomach and palliative chemotherapy was offered.  Darren started the chemo in February 2022, but this made him ill. It was apparent it did not agree with Darren, so the Doctors advised to stop the treatment. 

“After a scan in April 2022 we received some fantastic news that the tumours had shrunk, however Darren could not tolerate the chemo and were told in October that the tumours had increased in size. 

“Darren was offered immunotherapy and started the treatment but after a couple of sessions Darren became very unwell and this was also stopped.  

“On the 2nd Jan 2023 Darren was admitted into Pinderfields Hospital with Sepsis, on the 6th he was transferred to the Prince of Wales in Pontefract until The Kirkwood had a bed available. On the 10th Darren was transferred to The Kirkwood where he was treated and cared for by the fantastic team of doctors and nurses who never gave up and tried their very best to help Darren recover.

“Unfortunately, Darren lost his fight to the illness and sadly passed away on the 24th January in the loving arms of myself and his three daughters, Libby, Zara and Kenzie. Throughout Darren’s illness his three daughters were his priority, he never stopped trying to fight the illness and protecting the girls from everything that came with it.

“The doctors were amazed with Darren’s strength and our family unit, I never left his side, I spent 24 days and nights supporting the nurses to give Darren the love and support he truly deserved. 

“The Kirkwood made all this possible with the excellent facilities, I had a bed at the side of Darren which made a massive difference to me, Darren and our girls were also able to spend quality time with their dad in the last weeks of his life.

“The Kirkwood are amazing, from the doctors, nurses, cleaner’s and volunteers, the care and love they gave Darren, and our family was truly unbelievable and we cannot thank them enough. 

“Darren was happy and very comfortable in The Kirkwood’s In-Patient Unit and despite any pain he was in, he always had a big smile for everyone because of how the nurses cared for him. It was also a massive relief for Darren to be nearer to home for the girls and family members.

“Since Darren passed away, I have received one to one counselling which is making a massive difference to my personal journey. Our hearts have been shattered, nothing will ever be the same, we miss him so much, not a single hour of any day passes without a thought, a smile, or a tear. Darren will never be replaced, we will hold and cherish our memories in our hearts forever and continue to make Darren proud, always and forever."

As part of that journey Alex, her family and friends want to raise as much funds as possible for The Kirkwood and promised Darren before his death that, that is what they were going to do.

Alex commented: “We set a goal with Darren whilst in The Kirkwood to raise as much money as possible as a thank you for the support they gave us, the money raised will go towards helping other families in our situation.

“Darren’s tribute site raised a fantastic total of £3,218. £2,332 of that going to The Kirkwood and £886 going to the Prince of Wales in Pontefract.

“We also raised £1,868 by taking part in The Kirkwood Memory walk back in July 2023, we received fantastic contributions from friends and family. This year was the first walk we have done, we walked in a group of 12, my 74 years old parents to my nephew who is aged just 7.

“The walk was very emotional; we were very proud to share and remember Darren’s life he was such a wonderful husband and dad and truly deserved us taking part in the walk and everything else we will achieve in his honour.

“My youngest daughter Kenzie made over 150 buns for a bun sale in my place of work Mamas & Papas again receiving fantastic support and donations.

“We would like to thank everyone who has kindly donated you are all so generous and we are very grateful and extremely proud of what has been achieved so far.”