Jockey WAGs raise £12,000 for cancer charity after pal's diagnosis

THE WIFE of jockey and Irish Post columnist Dougie Costello has helped raise over £12,000 for a cancer charity following a friend’s diagnosis.

Aimee Costello is one of eight friends fundraising for Cancer Research UK following pal Kiera Mulholland’s diagnosis with a rare form of cancer.

The group have pledged to walk, run or cycle five miles a day as part of their '10 Steps for Kiera in September’ campaign.

And after raising over 12 times their original £1,000 target, they have now reset their goal to £20,000.

As well as Costello, two other jockeys’ wives are among the eight fundraisers – champion Jockey Richard Johnson’s wife Fiona and Sam Hitchcott’s wife Harriet.

Mulholland, who was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in July, is the sister of trainer Neil Mulholland.

Dougie Costello told The Irish Post: "Hearing that Neil Mulholland’s sister Kiera – both of whom I’ve known since I was about 12 – has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer puts things in perspective.

"Racing is only a game but it’s a very tight-knit family within that game. When something like this happens, everyone pulls together.

“It’s great to see my wife Aimee and all the girls raising money for Cancer Research UK by pledging to walk or run 10,000 steps a day for their ’10,000 Step for Keira’ campaign. The girls are very tight friends and what they’re doing is unbelievable.

“When one gets sick like Kiera, or one friend has a bad spell in their personal life, they all seem to get a bit tighter.

"They all pull together – even when one of us lads get injured, the girls always round up and try and help as much as possible. Or when one of the girls is pregnant there always seems to be bags of clothes being sent and what have you.

“There’s always support and I’m very proud of what they’re doing.”

On their fundraising page, the group expressed their shock at discovering Mulholland, 33, had cancer.

“As a group of fairly healthy 30-something-year-olds, we never thought it would affect one of us, at least not at this stage of our lives,” they said.

“We are each signing up for the Cancer Research UK September ‘Walk All Over Cancer’ challenge. Please help us support Kiera and raise money to bring forward the day when all cancers are cured.

“The challenge is to walk 10,000 steps a day, however each of us in embarking on the challenge in a slightly different way.”

You can visit the group's fundraising page here.