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"Please help our kids"
25.06.08
Fundraising drive
for Duchenne research
Story: Inishowen Independent
MARY Mooney whose six year-old son Liam suffers from
a rare and virulent form of muscular dystrophy has
appealed to the Inishowen public to get behind
fundraising efforts to support research into the
disease, known as Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. |
Ticket sellers will be
in the Buncrana and Burt areas in the coming days
and Mary, who is originally Mulhern from Bridgend,
is hoping for a big response from the local
community. A host of prizes, including cash and
weekend breaks, are available and the tickets cost
just €10.
This weekend, a Sports Day will be held at the Malin
GAA grounds. Starting at 2pm it features the usual
track and field events for adults and children,
penalty kicks, target shooting, duck tank, 9-a-side
fun football plus other |
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sideshows. Three
Inishowen boys suffer from Duchenne disease – Liam
Mooney from Malin and Carn brothers Tony (7) and
Bobby (2) Lafferty – which affects on average one in
3,500 males. Darren McDonagh, the Buncrana teenager
who passed away last month, also suffered from the
disease which Mrs Mooney described as “100% fatal”. |
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“We couldn’t believe it
when Liam was diagnosed,” Mary said. “His granny
noticed something wrong with his hip, and our world
turned upside down when we got the diagnosis of
Duchenne.”
“Liam and the other boys won’t see 20,” Mrs Mooney
continued. “The research in Britain aims to stop the
progress of the disease – it’s incurable – but they
need more funding. We’ve lobbied the Irish
Government and asked it to contribute, but they say
that they can’t fund medical research in Britain. As
parents, we can’t sit here and do nothing so we’re
aiming to raise €100,000 to contribute to the
clinical trials that are currently |
under way.”
A number of fundraising events have already been
held. There was a dance in the Malin Hotel at the
weekend and Mary Mooney and around 20 others
abseiled down the outside of the Europa Hotel in
Belfast on Sunday.
“The generosity of the public has been overwhelming
– people are just fantastic,” Mrs Mooney said.
“We’ve already raised some €30,000 of our €100,000
target and we have people coming to us offering
their help.”
Forthcoming events in aid of Duchenne Ireland
Muscular Dystrophy Research:
29 June – Sports Day at Malin GAA club
25 July – Prize Draw and Dance at the Malin Hotel
4 August – Horse trek and sponsored walk from Malin
to Carn
9 August – Night at the Races at Seaview Tavern,
Malin Head |
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