An eastern Ontario woman has ended the hunger strike she started more than two months ago in a bid for a provincewide moratorium on uranium mining.

Donna Dillman, 53, decided Thursday to start eating — something she hadn't done since Oct. 8 — even though her protest didn't result in the moratorium she had hoped for.

The Lanark County grandmother's decision came after an eastern Ontario coalition announced it will fight for her cause by holding public hearings into the health and environmental effects of uranium.

"I'm happy that there's a decision made," said Dillman, who lives a short distance from a prospective uranium mining site at Sharbot Lake, about 60 kilometres north of Kingston.

'We don't think she needs to die to achieve some real results in our cause.'— Dave Martin, Greenpeace

The Community Coalition against Mining Uranium announced Thursday that its series of public hearings will be held throughout the region in February and March.

A spokesman for Greenpeace, one of the groups that supported Dillman's efforts and is supporting the upcoming hearings, said the hunger strike brought a new level of awareness about the environmental problems associated with uranium mining.

But Dave Martin added the group had been concerned about Dillman.

"We don't think she needs to die to achieve some real results in our cause," said Martin.

Dillman concerned about grandchildren

Dillman said her protest was motivated by concern about the future of her grandchildren.

During most of the hunger strike, she survived only on juices. In the last few days, she drank only water.

She spent the early part of the protest outside the gates of the Sharbot Lake property, including some difficult nights in the cold.

"Bone-chilling, shaking internally," she recalled. "Mentally and emotionally it was the thing that every day I had to get around."

She later took her protest to Queen's Park, where she finally got a response from Premier Dalton McGuinty.

The premier said 50 per cent of Ontario's electricity comes from nuclear power and urged her to eat properly for the sake of her own health.

At the time, Dillman said she didn't appreciate McGuinty's apparent concern.