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SteelBlue05
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Hi, this is an article from the Galway Advertiser. I am in no way connected to it but I thought I'd try to generate some more publicity for it. Check [broken link removed] for details if anyone wishes to contribute....
Old pals act to help former St Jarlath's footballer
Reversing truck to raise funds for lifeguard who broke his neck diving into pool
BY LIAM HORAN
Old school friends are rallying around a sports star left paralysed after a freak swimming accident - and they hope to raise € 100,000 in the process.
Former St Jarlath's College and Mayo footballer Jim Treacy (40) has only partial use of his hands after breaking his neck diving into a swimming pool in Long Island, New York, in July 2003.
He will be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life, and friends from his days in St Jarlath's College, Tuam, have come to his rescue.
News of his plight shocked the sporting community throughout Connacht, and a committee has been formed to raise just over € 55,000 to fund a specially-adapted car to allow Jim to travel independently. They also plan to collect another € 45,000 for two spinal injuries charities - Spinal Injuries Ireland and Spinal Injuries Research.
"I am completely taken aback by the generosity of everyone involved. It's over 20 years since we left St Jarlath's College, but old friends are pulling out all the stops to raise the money. Two friends in particular - John O'Toole and Jarlath O'Connor - are doing unbelievable work, and many others have also answered the call," said painter and decorator Jim, a native of Ballindine, Co Mayo.
"I am lucky in that I have never felt down since the accident happened in 2003. I have always been able to keep thinking positively, and when others are doing such great work, it keeps you going.
"If you had told me two years ago that I would be in a wheelchair like this, I don't think I would have been able to cope. I was always into sport and exercise, but you find the strength from somewhere to keep going."
One schoolmate - John O'Toole - will reverse an articulated truck over a 25-mile journey to launch the fund-raising drive on August 27. This event has its own website www.truckinfortreacy.com.
Said committee member Jarlath O'Connor: "Jim was always a popular fellow in school and when word of his terrible accident broke, some of us resolved to raise money when it was needed."
Jim was a star goalkeeper with St Jarlath's College and featured in the Mayo squad which won the 1986 Connacht u21 football championship.
A qualified lifeguard, he was enjoying a Sunday afternoon at a friend's house in Long Island on July 27 2003, when he jumped into the swimming pool.
"It was only a few feet of water, but I didn't put out my hands to break the water. I suppose I was too casual, and I broke my neck on the impact with the water," he says.
"I had to be airlifted to hospital in Long Island in a helicopter, and I spent three months there. My twin brother John came out from Ireland to visit me, but I don't remember him being there - I didn't come around at all while he was there."
The paralysis set in from C5 down, and John has been under full-time medical care since - he spent almost eight months at the National Rehabilitation Centre in Dun Laoghaire, before being moved to the O'Dwyer Cheshire Home in Co Mayo where he now lives.
"The car will give me great freedom. I will be able to come and go as I please. I am now doing a course in computers and hope to study engineering," he says.
"When the accident happened first, I had very limited use of my hands, but daily physiotherapy has improved this greatly."
Old pals act to help former St Jarlath's footballer
Reversing truck to raise funds for lifeguard who broke his neck diving into pool
BY LIAM HORAN
Old school friends are rallying around a sports star left paralysed after a freak swimming accident - and they hope to raise € 100,000 in the process.
Former St Jarlath's College and Mayo footballer Jim Treacy (40) has only partial use of his hands after breaking his neck diving into a swimming pool in Long Island, New York, in July 2003.
He will be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life, and friends from his days in St Jarlath's College, Tuam, have come to his rescue.
News of his plight shocked the sporting community throughout Connacht, and a committee has been formed to raise just over € 55,000 to fund a specially-adapted car to allow Jim to travel independently. They also plan to collect another € 45,000 for two spinal injuries charities - Spinal Injuries Ireland and Spinal Injuries Research.
"I am completely taken aback by the generosity of everyone involved. It's over 20 years since we left St Jarlath's College, but old friends are pulling out all the stops to raise the money. Two friends in particular - John O'Toole and Jarlath O'Connor - are doing unbelievable work, and many others have also answered the call," said painter and decorator Jim, a native of Ballindine, Co Mayo.
"I am lucky in that I have never felt down since the accident happened in 2003. I have always been able to keep thinking positively, and when others are doing such great work, it keeps you going.
"If you had told me two years ago that I would be in a wheelchair like this, I don't think I would have been able to cope. I was always into sport and exercise, but you find the strength from somewhere to keep going."
One schoolmate - John O'Toole - will reverse an articulated truck over a 25-mile journey to launch the fund-raising drive on August 27. This event has its own website www.truckinfortreacy.com.
Said committee member Jarlath O'Connor: "Jim was always a popular fellow in school and when word of his terrible accident broke, some of us resolved to raise money when it was needed."
Jim was a star goalkeeper with St Jarlath's College and featured in the Mayo squad which won the 1986 Connacht u21 football championship.
A qualified lifeguard, he was enjoying a Sunday afternoon at a friend's house in Long Island on July 27 2003, when he jumped into the swimming pool.
"It was only a few feet of water, but I didn't put out my hands to break the water. I suppose I was too casual, and I broke my neck on the impact with the water," he says.
"I had to be airlifted to hospital in Long Island in a helicopter, and I spent three months there. My twin brother John came out from Ireland to visit me, but I don't remember him being there - I didn't come around at all while he was there."
The paralysis set in from C5 down, and John has been under full-time medical care since - he spent almost eight months at the National Rehabilitation Centre in Dun Laoghaire, before being moved to the O'Dwyer Cheshire Home in Co Mayo where he now lives.
"The car will give me great freedom. I will be able to come and go as I please. I am now doing a course in computers and hope to study engineering," he says.
"When the accident happened first, I had very limited use of my hands, but daily physiotherapy has improved this greatly."