Conor Shaw and his grandfather, Brigadista Joe Boyd.

Liz Shaw, daughter of Spanish Civil War veteran Joe Boyd, has been very supportive of the commemorations organised by the IBCC over the past 7 years. As well as Liz other members of her family have attended events. She recently sent us this distressing message about the death of her son, Conor.

Hi Ciaran

You were kind enough to support the Movember campaign which Claire and her husband Andrew became involved in last year in support of Conor and other men with Testicular cancer. In June 2009 Conor was diagnosed and after a couragous and dignified fight, sadly we lost him aged 31 on 30th April. He had almost three months remission last year when he got back to work at the Equality Commission and then the cancer returned with a true vengance. I'll spare you the details but he had a dreadful time….. he died in his own room with all his familiar things around him and the three of us there. His huge network of friends were wonderful and they continue to support us.

As a result of the extensive chemotherapy, Conor was no longer able to use his hands (nerve damage) but for a few short weeks he had the fortune to hit a little plateau and during that time he did his best to live right until he died. Something which was terribly important to him was to record how he felt at the unveiling of the plaque at the John Hewitt and somehow he wrote this down as a first draft, intending to polish it up and leave it as a legacy for the family and hopefully to get it published somewhere. It was the only thing he wrote as it was such a difficult process.

He was a very shy, private person and didn't want to make a fuss about his condition. Claire has been doing her best to decipher this as the writing is very illegible and today she let us read it, there are still a few words she can't make out but the message is there - he was terribly proud that day. Conor intended this as an article - what it meant to him to meet the McMahon's and how he felt about that day as he loved his grandfather very much and endorsed his values. We'd like you to know what YOUR work on the Spanish Civil War commemorations meant to this young man and if it is at all possible - perhaps advise us how we might get it published somewhere.

Also his close friend Steven Agnew has been elected for the Green Party as a Member of the Legislative Assemby at Stormont, and he dedicated his victory to Conor. There was an article about Conor in the Belfast Telegraph on 16 June 2011 to raise awareness of men's health. His friends are organising a tribute concert in Belfast later this week with 5 bands - just for fun and to raise money for Médecins Sans Frontières MSF (Doctors Without Borders) which was Conor's charity. As Conor's name was Booms in predictive text they have advertised it as Boomstock.

As you know he was a member of the SCW here, and at Claire's suggestion we attached his SCW badge to the lapel of the shirt he was wearing when he left us for the last time.

Read about MSF at http://www.msf.org.uk/default.aspx

You can donate to support MSF, in memory of Conor, at http://www.msf.org.uk/support_donate.aspx

Read about Movember at http://uk.movember.com/

During November each year, Movember is responsible for the sprouting of moustaches on thousands of men’s faces in the UK and around the world. The aim of which is to raise vital funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and other cancers that affect men.