As far as Mary Ita O'Connor was concerned, featuring on RTÉ's Big Life Fix was secondary to getting an all-important piece of equipment.
"I really didn't want to do it!" she laughs, referring to featuring on the show. Her aim, she says, was getting a new rollator that would allow her to run over rough ground without getting stuck in "stones and potholes".
It was vital for helping her keep up running, which had become a "life saver" since O'Connor was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease at just 39.
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Mary Ita is just one of a number of stories featured on this season of Big Life Fix, which brings together some of Ireland's most groundbreaking designers, engineers, computer programmers and technology experts to create tools that will radically improve people's lives.
Getting on with things is clearly second nature to the proud West Limerick woman, who now lives in Milford, Co Cork but still makes sure to catch every Limerick GAA match she can. She recalls how, after visiting the doctor having sensed that something wasn't right, and receiving a diagnosis of early Parkinson's, she came home to her family and said, "don't talk about it, forget it".
The condition "had been in the background for a long time but it came to the fore, I think around 2015 maybe", she said.
She had a period of not being able to go for walks. "Feeling sorry for myself", she laughs. Eventually she tried walking to the local village. "And every time a car came I'd freeze or I'd fall and I couldn't get going, or I couldn't cross the road. I lost my confidence."
"We were told when I was born that I would never walk or properly move about, but I defined them odds" 🤍
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Soon, she decided to buy a treadmill and take it from there. When her daughter told her about the local park runs, there was no stopping O'Connor. "I said, 'We'll run this, we're not going to walk it'. There were three laps, we did the three laps. I fell in love with the people behind us, they were so nice and so unassuming, didn't question me or anything. Everyone was treated the same."
"The running was my life saver", she says. "Me telling the story now, it doesn't bother me. I look as it as, I have it, get on with it. That's always been my motto. I can feel sorry for myself some days. I'd have a bad day crying, but you just get up and get on with it."
Years later, she says that, "any time I cross the finish line I get the same buzz as if it was my first run".
Running on coarse, rough ground with a rollator, however, can often be a significant hurdle. It was O'Connor's quest for a stronger, more durable rollator that brought her to inventor and rocket scientist David McKeown.
McKeown managed to create exactly that, with much more personality than a run-of-the-mill version.
"He knew I was interested in GAA in Limerick so they have a bit of green and white, and he put all the years they won the All Ireland on it, and all my family names on it. It's beautiful", O'Connor enthuses.
Quick to dodge any semblance of self-congratulation, O'Connor overflows with gratitude for the hardwork and time from the team.
"The one word I don't like people using is 'inspiration'", she says. "My friends now [say], 'Don't say that word, she'll go mad'. I'm sure there's a lot of people much worse, I've so much to be grateful for and I've great friends."
Watch Big Life Fix on Wednesdays at 9:35pm on RTÉ One or Watch Big Life Fix on RTÉ Player
