A brave Dublin mum is facing her fears head-on to raise vital funds for special needs students.
Lucan woman, Colette Darcy, will be swimming in the sea every day in April to help raise money for her sons' schools to purchase much needed OT supplies.
Colette, who is mum to Zach (12), Amelia (8), and Oran (9), said she's not terrified of the ocean but of what's in it.
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She told Dublin Live: "I’m terrified of fish. I’m terrified of anything touching me.
"Zach loves the water. When he was younger and we used to live by the seaside, he’d just walk straight into the sea."
Colette said her motivation to overcome her fear stemmed from her strong instinct to protect her son.
As Zach started to get older, he became more adventurous and would go deeper into the water until he had waves going over his head.
She said: "Between myself and my husband, I’m the strongest swimmer but my fear of what’s in the sea kept me out of it.
"So what triggered me to get back into the sea was if something happened to Zach, I’d have to go and get him. And I need to know that I could do that without having the fear."
Colette will be swimming in the Forty Foot every day to raise money for Stewart's Special School and Lucan East Educate Together as part of Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month.
She said: "Both my sons have autism and their schools have been just phenomenal in helping them. They have a way to reach the boys that we don’t.
"That’s one of the main reasons as well why I want to do this. For example, Zach goes to a special school. He was non-verbal but he's now pre-verbal.
"He’d now probably have the speech of a three-year-old but it’s more than he ever had.
"He can communicate a lot of his needs through a single word. And if that’s what we have for the rest of his life, it’s amazing because we had nothing at all."
She added: "Oran is in a mainstream school with two SNAs. He’s lucky he has two. They’re the opposite but they’re both equally amazing with him. The school has given him so many resources."
Colette said she's amazed every day by how close the siblings are despite having very different personalities.
She said: "It’s like night and day. One talks, one doesn't. One is exceptionally outgoing, the other one, he’s at home with us. One can go out and have friends, the other one can’t.
"Amelia has already taken on the big sister role, especially with Zach. She’s been amazing. She’s amazing with him. She gives him so much of her time."
She added: "Oran says when he’s going to get older and he buys a house, Zach’s going to live with him because they’re the same but Amelia will be next door.
"The plans that they’ve already made and the allowances they make for each other is just lovely to see."
You can donate here to support Colette's cause.
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