The emotional story behind why friends Roy and Pete are embarking on a tour of Europe's major cities... in an £800 Ford Ka - BelfastTelegraph.co.uk
The emotional story behind why friends Roy and Pete are embarking on a tour of Europe's major cities... in an £800 Ford Ka
Construction worker Roy Lucas is currently putting the final touches to plans for an ambitious road trip to Europe next month in an £800 Ford Ka with best friend, Peter Davies.
But behind all the last-minute preparation and anticipation lies a very poignant reason for his travels - the venture is a tribute to his inspiration and his hero - his dad Ernie who died in May this year.
"My dad had terminal cancer and was diagnosed about two and half years ago so we had plenty of time to prepare for what was to come," says Roy, who lives in Lisburn with wife Alison (30) and their two-and-half-year-old daughter Emily.
"He was so brave throughout and a true inspiration to us all. Unfortunately, in January he was diagnosed with brain cancer and his condition became rapid."
Two weeks before he passed away on May 8, Ernie was moved to hospice care at the Somerton Road in Belfast.
"I've never seen a place like it," says Roy. "It was amazing and so welcoming. Everyone from the doctors and nurses to the cleaners made us feel welcome and as cliched as it sounds, everyone always had a smile on their face. It was a happy place to be under very difficult circumstances.
"Nothing was too much bother for the staff. If I was sitting with dad or couldn't sleep, they made us a cup of tea at 3am.
"There was always someone to chat to, no matter what time of the day or night it was. There was always someone there to talk to and to share a chat and a cuppa with."
"Dad and I would go to the coffee shop and talk for ages. He was a very smart, well-educated man and had an opinion on and could talk about everything.
"We talked a lot about Brexit as it was in the news all the time. About borders and travelling. By this stage I had told dad I wanted to do something to thank the hospice for the work they do. He was in full support as he was so content and calm there, and knew he was being well looked after.
"One of the ideas we talked about was travelling all over Europe and visiting the different hospices in different countries and making people aware of the work they do.
"Dad loved this idea and got very excited and animated about it. That is one of the last conversations I had with dad. After that he became very weak and was medicated so he was sleeping a lot.
"He passed away in the early hours of the morning. He was surrounded by his family and it was very beautiful and peaceful. We couldn't settle and we all ended up in his room at just the right time.
"We were so thankful to everyone in the hospice who went out of their way to make his last days so peaceful and so dignified. It was exactly what dad would have wanted."
Roy reveals that the family have all had an adjustment to make as they come to terms with losing Ernie.
"It has hit mum especially hard. They were together for a long time but she finds wee signs that he is still around, like a chain he lost when he started treatment that she found just after he passed away."
A month after losing his father, Roy started to think seriously about how best to honour that promise to his dad - and help raise money for the hospice as well.
"I really wanted to raise vital funds for the hospice which costs millions to run every year and is free to everyone," he says.
"So Peter and I bought an old Ford Ka convertible for £800 and began planning our trip. We decided we would visit the 16 countries in Europe with hospices in them. Dad and I talked so much about this trip and about how cancer doesn't stop at borders, but is prevalent everywhere.
"Every hospice across Europe is offering the kind of services and support we received and we want to mark that by visiting them.
"It may seem like a madcap idea travelling around Europe in a beat-up old Ford Ka convertible, but I know it is what dad would have wanted me to do.
"As well as raising awareness about the work of the hospice, we are also raising funds for it. We are being sponsored and also have a justgiving page. Our target is £10,000."
"They have listened as we have talked about and planned this for months and are very excited for us. They just want us to get around it all safely.
"We will be travelling from 6am to 11pm most days. Some nights we will book into a hostel and when we can, we will just pitch up a two-man tent which we will have in the back of the car.
Roy and Peter's Great Tour begins on October 28 and they plan to make a total of 16 stops in 14 days. Roy said: "As regards our route, we will take the ferry over to Cairnryan and drive to the Glasgow Hospice. We will then go to Cardiff and London before travelling from Dover to Brussels. Stops then include Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Croatia, Slovenia, Venice, Milan, Zurich and Paris, and then we get the ferry home to Dublin.
"Dad was a real gentleman. He was the sort of man who would just say 'go for it' and he wouldn't have let anything stop him - we are embarking on this trip in the same spirit.
"We hope the car holds up but we have a friend who is a mechanic who will give it a good going over before we leave. We plan to do as much of it as possible with the roof down."
"Berlin will be a difficult one as I had planned to take dad there for his 70th birthday, but sadly he got sick and couldn't make it.
"Dad was an engineer by trade. He was very intelligent and a great friend. I am so grateful that he was my father. This trip is for him and in his memory. I know he will be with us every step of the way."
Roy says that some of his earliest memories of his dad involve music - his father was in a showband, The Confederates, that was very popular in the Sixties.
"Dad loved music and he was always teaching us to play the piano or the guitar. My sisters Stacy, who is 39, and Suzanne, who is 37, and I grew up listening to dad play music.
"When he wasn't playing music, he was building and working at the house. He often told the story of when he laid a concrete floor down in the house and I thought it would be a good idea to dig the floor up with my new Tonka truck ... he told that story until I was in my 30s. Even when he wasn't well, he was still trying to build and fix things."
And, as he and Pete are preparing to give the Ford Ka another road test, Roy made one last appeal: "We are okay about most of the countries we are going to visit, but we are concerned about Croatia and Hungary as we are worried about the language.
"So if anyone can help us out on that front with a few key words and phrases, then please get in touch."
Demand for hospice services in Northern Ireland is increasing and the charity is now caring for over 90% of patients in their own homes. While hospice care is free to the patient, it is not free to provide and the charity relies heavily on support and donations from the public.
Following on from the opening of a new adult facility in north Belfast and a refurbishment programme at the Children's Hospice in Newtownabbey, the charity is now looking to the future and to meeting the palliative care demands of the local population.
As has been the case in children's services for many years, NI Hospice adult services is now extending its palliative care reach beyond cancer and striving to support those with dementia, neurological conditions and respiratory conditions using a palliative care model.
It costs in excess of £9m per annum to run Northern Ireland Hospice care services and the charity relies on voluntary income to fund circa 60% of these costs, with less than 40% being met by statutory funding sources.
Stop everything and look at these democracy-loving dogs at polling stations - BelfastTelegraph.co.uk
Aurier joined Spurs for £23million from Paris St Germain and Pochettino is hoping the defender proves a reformed character in north London.
Pochettino places a strong emphasis on discipline at Tottenham but said he trusts Aurier to take his second chance.
"I spoke with him, of course, about different things, but I'm a person that likes to move on," Pochettino said. "I think it was good, we had a long chat. He knows very well how we are, what we expect from him, and for us it's so important, not only him, every player, how they behave here in the squad.
"I trust him, I am confident that he can succeed here and help the team to achieve the things we want.
As he looks ahead to next season, Iain Henderson certainly isn't feeling the weight of history on his broad shoulders. The dynamic Ulster star was part of the Ireland side that claimed a maiden away victory over South Africa earlier this month and, despite the disappointment of subsequently failing to clinch the series, has already turned his attention to the men in green's most famous of barren streaks.
Ireland have met the All Blacks 27 times and, bar a solitary draw in 1973, have always come out on the wrong side.
The most recent reverse came in 2013 after having been 19-0 ahead and then up by five in the final seconds only for Ryan Crotty's try and Aaron Cruden's conversion to break Irish hearts once again.
With two bites at the most elusive of cherries before the end of 2016 - Ireland take on the World champions at Soldier Field, Chicago in the first week of November before a rematch in the Aviva later that month - Henderson wants the hoodoo to end this year.
"One thing we can take from this is that as a side, even being a young side, we've made history once on this tour and there's no reason why we can't do it again," said the 24-year-old.
"We've got two opportunities to go and do it and hopefully in Chicago we can look to turn them over there and, if that happens, we'll look to build on it the next week and the next week and go from there."
Both in terms of its historic setting and the lingering memory of Ireland's late collapse in that last meeting, this must be considered one of the most anticipated Tests of Joe Schmidt's tenure.
While by the time it rolls around things will have become clear, there currently remains the distinct possibility that it could also be one of the head coach's final games in charge.
With a contract that runs out at the end of next season, it looks increasingly likely that family reasons - his teenage son Luke suffers from epilepsy - could see the Kiwi return home at the end of the upcoming campaign.
"The terms Joe and detail are linked together. Everyone says it and I think it's because of, not only rugby, but his whole approach. Players feel that he has such an impact on them and makes them feel that they can be better and can always get better," said the Ulsterman.
"That's one thing he adds to the younger players and I know the older players feel that he's always adding to them as well.
"Joe is someone who is constantly striving for perfection in everything he does. Not only players, but management and staff. Everyone has learned from him and everyone that has learned from him, it's been a part of bringing Irish rugby forward from what it was in my first Six Nations when we lost to Italy and that Scotland game.
"Off the back of those results, Joe has turned things around and it's been massive for Irish rugby."
Despite a disappointing fortnight to conclude their long season - a 16-point lead was squandered in the second Test against the Springboks while Saturday's decisive six-point defeat came despite enjoying 68% possession and 73% territory - Henderson is looking forward to a bright future with the international side as they build towards the 2019 World Cup.
"There are so many class players coming through," he said. "It's good to see a strong representation from Connacht, Matt Healy and Tiernan (O'Halloran) both doing really, really well. Kieran Marmion's sitting there too.
"He's been in almost every Irish camp that I've been in since 2012, so he's been in there and knows the gist of things.
"That's another one from Connacht, the likes of Jordi Murphy coming through and stepping up after not playing a huge amount before.
"Players like that are doing really, really well, coming through and not having the same experience, but bringing what they've given to their provinces through to senior level, stepping up and playing well.
"It's fantastic. We're missing a few big names and people would have been sceptical when we left Dublin, but fair play to the young guys for stepping up and putting their hands up."
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