the story of my life part 5

Chapter: The Price Behind the Podium (continued)

Even after the 2010 Games were over, the struggle didn’t end. Josephine continued coming to my place at weekends, where I made sure she had full meals—warm food, hot drinks, and a break from the constant pressure she was under. On Mondays, I’d bring a small shopping bag with me to Wicklow and quietly restock the kitchen in her family’s home. It wasn’t much, but every item mattered.

Then one Monday evening, just a few weeks after the Games, everything changed.

Josephine got sick—suddenly, violently—barely making it to the bathroom. I didn’t get the 7 p.m. bus home like usual. I stayed. Something wasn’t right.

She tried to brush it off at first, said it was just tiredness, or maybe the weather. But I stayed gentle and persistent. And eventually, the truth came out.

She had taken out a personal loan. A real one. To pay the fees required to attend the Games—fees that should have been covered by the very organisation sending her to represent them.

I was stunned. She had been carrying that weight the whole time, in silence.

The next day, back home in Dublin, I walked straight to my credit union. I requested a €500 cash withdrawal—enough to clear her loan and give her some breathing space. I told no one. No announcements. No lectures. Just action.

Because if the system wasn’t going to support her, then I would.

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