*Laura Brennan with her dog Bailey. Photograph: Liam Burke
LAURA BRENNAN’s life will be celebrated in a new documentary to air this coming Monday.
Clare FM will broadcast ‘Laura Brennan, The Voice’ on Monday (March 21st) at 11am to mark the third anniversary of her untimely passing. The documentary will feature Laura’s family, friends, colleagues, medical experts and a contribution from the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin (FF).
It will be the second documentary released on Laura, the first aired on RTÉ ONE in September 2019 and ‘This Is Me’ remains available to view on the RTÉ Player, it is named after her favourite film, ‘The Greatest Showman’. It won Gold in the Health/Medical information category at the 2020 New York Festivals International TV, Film and Radio Awards
Her advocacy work began after she was diagnosed with terminal cervical cancer and led to a surge in the number of young women taking the HPV vaccine. The HSE said that since Laura first contacted them in 2017, the uptake of the vaccine increased by almost 20 percentage points from 51% that year, to 70% at the time of her death, this later increased to 80% and the rate in Clare surpassed 90%.
Laura’s message was heard all over the world and the World Health Organisation claimed her work promoting the HPV vaccine helped save hundreds of thousands of lives.
Family members have contributed to Monday’s documentary, upon hearing it for the first time, Laura’s parents Larry and Bernie said, “We laughed and cried at the memories the documentary brought to mind. We are very thankful to all those who shared their thoughts on Laura’s life. We would particularly like to thank Padraic Flaherty and Clare FM for capturing the journey we have travelled”.
It chronicles Laura’s life from growing up in Ennis, her time in St Flannan’s College and working in the cosmetic industry while sharing the views and memories of those who knew her best.
Produced by Clare FM’s Programme Director Padraic Flaherty, it is set to be an emotional listen. Padraic has previously produced ‘Unsung Hero, Mick Ryan’, ‘Between Worlds – The Life of Mícheál O’Súilleabháin’, and award-winning documentaries ‘The Rescue’ & ‘Top of the World’ which focused on Jim Warny and John Burke respectively.
