AN AMAZING video shows an energetic NHS doctor celebrating her 50th birthday by dancing for 24 hours straight to raise thousands of pounds for charity.
Sinead McAree marked her milestone birthday at the weekend (31 JAN) by dancing for a whole day in order to raise £6,000 for Alzheimer’s Research UK.
Sinead, who is from Ireland but works as a doctor in Paisley, Renfrewshire, was inspired to celebrate her birthday milestone in style this year.
The NHS worker danced in her own kitchen disco from 8am on Saturday to 8am on Sunday to playlists designed by friends and BBC Radio 2.
Sinead posted a video onto Twitter showing herself dancing energetically, donned in sunglasses and a blonde curly wig, to “There She Goes” by The La’s.
Sinead said she decided to hold her birthday disco marathon to put a positive spin on turning 50 in lockdown.
Speaking today (TUE), she said: “Like anybody who’s had any birthday or any event in lockdown, I went from maybe going for dinner or something, and it just got reduced and reduced to maybe just having a cupcake with a candle on it.
“So I decided that I just had to turn this around and make it positive in a different way.”
Sinead shared a second video when she was 17 hours into the dance marathon detailing how she was finding it tough to stay in the groove.
Taking a five minute break to lie down, she said: “My brain has shut down but my feet need to keep moving, and that’s the name of this game. I’m trying to keep on pushing through it – and I’ll do it – but this is the hardest bit yet.”
“I was fine for ages, then I hit two walls.”
Sinead smashed her original target of £1,000 on her Just Giving page by over 500% with donations currently sitting at £5,974 and counting.
The dancing doctor’s donations soared after McAree phoned in on Saturday morning to Dermot O’Leary’s BBC Radio 2 breakfast show.
The DJ later congratulated her on completing her epic fundraiser.
Sinead added: “I think dementia is something that will affect all of us, whether we like to think about it or not.
“At the end of the day, this is something I chose to do. People who live with dementia every day, they don’t get a choice.”
“I hit a wall at 1am on a wall at 5.30am. That was really hard. I’m pretty certain that just for a nanosecond I fell asleep dancing.
“My family and my friends were brilliant too because I had people zooming in and tapping into dance with me for half hour segments during the day, from Canada to Ireland to London to Scotland, so I didn’t feel alone.”
Sinead said the widespread support from patrons, family and friends helped her to keep going through the night, making it “the best birthday ever”.
Stacy Rowan, Scotland Fundraising Officer for Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “We are in awe of Sinead for completing her 24-hour disco challenge for dementia research. What a brilliant way to celebrate her birthday during lockdown!
“The vital funds raised will help us power world-class studies to make life-changing breakthroughs for people with dementia.
“There are around 70,000 people in Scotland and nearly 1 million throughout the UK living with dementia. Most commonly caused by Alzheimer’s disease, dementia affects people’s memory, behaviour and personality.
“Today, there are no effective treatments to slow, stop or prevent the diseases that cause dementia, but with support from people like Sinead, our researchers are working hard to change that.”
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