Hopes cardiac screening will save a life
A CARDIAC screening event for 12 to 18-year-olds was hosted by the Ahascragh-Fohenagh hurling club and Ahascragh-Caltra camogie club on Friday, July 17.
A total of 45 young people were screened at Fohenagh GAA pitch by the Dillon Quirke Foundation team. Former Tipperary hurler Dillon Quirke was aged just 24 when he collapsed and died from Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS) while playing for his club Clonoulty-Rossmore in 2022.
His passing led to an outpouring of grief in Co Tipperary and elsewhere. The Dillon Quirke Foundation was set up three years ago to raise awareness and reduce the number of young people dying through SADS via a national cardiac screening programme.
Conor Lyons lives in Ahascragh with his wife Emily and family. Conor is a Tipperary man originally and hurled with Clonoulty-Rossmore.
Conor and Emily completed the Paris Marathon in April, raising €6,210 for the Dillon Quirke Foundation in the process. Their hope was that the fundraising efforts would lead to a screening event being held in the East Galway area down the line, and local clubs made contact with the Dillon Quirke Foundation to see if this would be possible.
“The camogie club were contacted a few weeks ago by the foundation saying they had an opening, and the camogie and hurling clubs were happy to host the screening event,” said Conor Lyons.
“The foundation has screened between 12,000 to 15,000 young people since it was launched. They do so much to raise the profile of SADS. They try and screen as many people as possible, but there’s only so many people they can screen.
“Dillon was from the same club as me. I would have played with his father and brothers. He was our up-and-coming star in the club.
“My wife and I were running the Paris Marathon. We sat down over the winter and said that while it will be a great personal achievement, maybe we should try and raise some money for a charity, and it had always been in the back of my head to do something for the Dillon Quirke Foundation.”
The Paris Marathon was Conor’s second marathon and Emily’s first. They presented a cheque from the monies they raised to the Dillon Quirke Foundation at the cardiac screening in Fohenagh.