8th September 2023
Earlier this year, 15 year old Caoímhin Mallon from Taghnevan in Lurgan sadly passed away following an asthma attack. As a passionate Gaelic footballer, Caoímhin enjoyed nothing more than lining out for St Paul’s u16’s. He was also a keen Liverpool fan and really enjoyed a visit to Anfield with his dad, Jude.
In memory of young Caoímhin, Dean McCabrey from Lurgan decided to take on an exceptional challenge to raise money for charity. As a fitting tribute, Dean decided he would complete an indoor row and cycle equal to the distance from Taghnevan in Lurgan to Anfield, an amazing 154.96 miles!
Dean managed to raise an incredible total of £4500 for charity which was split equally between Craigavon Emergency Department, NIAS Trust, and Anam Cara which provides support to bereaved parents.
The NIAS area team were delighted to welcome Dean and Jude, on 6 September, to Southern HQ to receive a cheque for £1500.
NIAS Area Manager, Sean Mullan said. “NIAS staff regularly attend incidents of this nature and we feel greatly for the parents when they lose a child so young, especially one who seemed to have a great future ahead of them, as Caoímhin surely had. We offer our heartfelt condolences to all who knew Caoímhin and we are humbled that his friends and family have chosen to acknowledge the efforts of our crews in this way. I would like to thank Jude and Dean for their kind generosity”.