Con's story
“The word ‘cured’ wasn’t in my vocabulary with lung cancer, but I’m living proof that it is possible to be cured of it, thanks to it being detected early through the Beaumont RCSI Irish Cancer Society Lung Health Check.”
November 2026: Con Shanahan, 73, who is originally from Limerick and lives in Louth, got a text from his GP practice in September 2025 asking him if he’d be willing to take a call to assess his suitability for the Lung Health Check pilot programme.
The Lung Health Check is a pioneering six-year initiative led by the Beaumont RCSI Cancer Centre and funded by the Irish Cancer Society, that was launched in 2024.
This clinical trial, in collaboration with specific GP practices in North Dublin and the North East region, invited individuals at a high risk of developing lung cancer to attend community-based mobile scanning units for lung health checks.
“My wife and I got texts from our GP surgery, Square Medical in Dundalk, saying we’d get a call shortly to see if we were eligible for and would like to take part in a programme called Lung Health Check,” says Con, who is a father of three.
“The woman on the phone asked me if I’d ever smoked, and I told her I used to, but I gave up smoking for good 34 years ago on New Year’s Eve 1991.
“She asked if I’d ever had pneumonia before, and I said I had."
"She invited me to come to the Lung Health Check mobile unit to get a scan, and I remember asking her, ‘Are you sure it’s necessary?’, and she said it could be worth my while to do it.”
Con’s wife was ineligible for the programme, as she had no history of smoking and wasn’t considered at a high risk of developing lung cancer.
Ten days after the call, Con went to the mobile Lung Health Check unit in the grounds of O'Raghallaighs GAA Club in Drogheda.
“They did a series of checks in the mobile unit,” says Con. “Shortly afterwards, I was sent for a whole series of tests: a CT, an MRI, biopsies, X-rays. In early December 2025, to my shock, I got diagnosed with lung cancer."
“To me, because of my age and the generation I’m from, the words ‘lung cancer’ meant death in a short period of time. When I was younger and I’d heard lung cancer mentioned, I’d always be thinking, ‘How long have they got?’ It was feared by everyone; you nearly spoke about it in whispers.”
On the 29th of January 2026, Con went for surgery to remove the top lobe of his right lung, where the cancer was located. Seven months later, after he’d healed from the surgery, Con went for a CT scan that confirmed the surgery was a success and he was cancer free. He required no further treatment.
“The longer I would’ve unknowingly lived with the cancer in my lung, the later I would’ve been diagnosed and the outcome could’ve been much worse for me,” says Con. “I think the Lung Health Check programme is marvellous.
“If you get an offer to take up the test, I urge you to take the opportunity. I remember thinking at first, should I really go along with this? But then I realised it would be foolish not to.”
As a testament to his support of the Lung Health Check pilot programme, Con also wrote a letter to the Minister for Health urging the roll-out of the programme nationwide.
“I never noticed a thing was wrong, and that’s why programmes like the Lung Health Check need to be taken seriously,” he says. “I had no symptoms at all. No pain, no aches, no cough.”
Con’s uncle died of lung cancer at 48-years-old in 1975, a mere month after receiving his diagnosis. Reflecting on his own lung cancer experience, Con says he’s grateful that his cancer was caught early and cured, and he’s looking forward to what’s ahead.
“I feel very lucky and grateful that it was caught early and cured,” he says. “As far as the cancer is concerned, it’s gone now. It left a mark alright, and getting the diagnosis was a shock to the system. But I know I have a good life ahead, and I know it could’ve been very different for me if it was caught at a later stage. Detecting cancer early is so important.”
