Tuam student will be remembered at fundraising night
FAMILY members, friends and many more will gather on Sunday night for an 80s disco night fundraiser to remember Samantha Gannon, a young woman from Milltown who passed away last year.
The 80s night fundraiser kicks off at 8pm on Sunday October 25 in the Ard Rí Hotel in memory of Samantha, who died in July of last year at the age of 19 following a two-car collision on the Ballygaddy Road in Tuam.
Samantha was the daughter of Frank and Bridie. She was one of four children alongside her brother Alex and sisters Megan and Chloe.
A student nurse, Samantha had completed the first of her four-year General Nursing course in ATU Castlebar and was an organ donor. Her heart, her lung, her liver, her kidneys and her pancreas went to five people.
The Gannon family were given a Thinking of You Memory Box from the nurses in the ICU Department of UHG. Lockets of Samantha’s hair and other items are contained in the box.
The Thinking of You Memory Boxes charity is run by the Saolta University Health Care Group of hospitals. The Gannon family have decided to give something back to the charity following the kindness shown to them by the ICU nurses during Samantha’s time in the hospital and are donating the proceeds raised from Sunday’s 80s night event to the charity.
“It’s a good charity. It brought us a lot of solace at a time when it felt like the ground was opening up and swallowing us,” said Frank Gannon.
“We want to give back to that charity. We put the wheels in motion. We wanted to do something. We didn’t know what at first and then we said we’d organise a night out. Who doesn’t like a night out?
“Even the kids today know a lot of 80s music. There are a lot of people dressing up in 80s gear for it. You don’t have to dress up, but people can if they like.”
A GoFundMe page has been set up to coincide with the 80s night fundraiser and the page had received more than €5,000 in donations by the end of last week.
“Samantha will never be forgotten. We want to thank the Ard Rí Hotel for hosting the night. It will be nice for all Samantha’s friends to meet up, be out socialising, dancing and chatting away, and enjoying themselves,” said Bridie Gannon.
“We’re looking forward to it. Ticket sales are going fairly well,” said Frank.
“We’ll have a massive draw on the night. We’ll do one draw from the ticket sales. All tickets are numbered. The names of the people and the corresponding number will be put into the draw. There are great prizes for that draw.
“There’s a separate raffle as well. We’ve 30 to 40 spot prizes for that between vouchers and hampers.
“The businesses around town have been very good. A lot of them we didn’t even ask for prizes. We were putting up posters and they volunteered straight away and said they’d give a spot prize.
“It’s in memory of Samantha. She had a short life, and she did a lot of good things in that life. We’ll never forget her. We want to give them an occasion to remember.”