Walk for Fergal

My name is Darragh Lydon, and together with my friends Ronan and Michael we are fundraising to help my brother Fergal walk again.

Fergals story:

After a catastrophic motorbike accident on 3 April 2022, my brother Fergal Lydon was left paralyzed from the chest down. His last memory for 47 days was sending a video to his family from hospital telling them he loved them and that he would be home soon. After numerous surgeries and 14 weeks in ICU, Fergal left Galway to travel to the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dublin to start the hard work of his recovery. Fergal left Galway to travel to the National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) in Dublin to start his difficult rehabilitation journey.

Fergal with my daughter Annie in July '22

Fergal was discharged from the NRH in October and has since gone from strength to strength, within a month of discharge he learnt to drive again in his specially adapted vehicle. He is on an intensive strength training program along with breathing, meditation and mental heath training which is all self-funded.

Fergal is no stranger to hard work, having worked in construction for the last 30 years to support his beloved wife Aoife and family Dylan (20), Roisin (15), Siobhan(12) and Ryan (10) (at the time of the accident). He is determined to take his training to the next level and access world leading spinal rehabilitation training with the Ken Ware Neurophysics institute in Australia. This will involve a number of 8 week intensive training stays in Australia with an estimated cost of €58,000 per visit.

Michael,Ronan and I have been friends since meeting in 1999 in secondary school, and when Fergal had his accident they asked me if there was anything they could do to help raise funds for his treatment. Michael turned 40 in January this year, and at the event we decided (no comments will be made at what time of day we agreed, picture above was taken soon after) to do this to help Fergal's cause.

On July 28th, Ronan and I will be setting off from our hometown of Oughterard and walking to Croagh Patrick in Westport along the Western Way.

The first stage of our walk will be from Oughterard to Leenaun, a walk of about 55km. We will then be meeting Michael and continuing on for 30km from Leenaun to Croagh Patrick and climbing the 764m mountain from the south, before descending the north face and walking(crawling) another 10k to Westport town.

Croagh Patrick

Darragh’s Journey from January:

My son Owen was born in January after we agreed to do this event, he arrived 5 weeks early and in February after 10 days at home he was admitted to hospital for a congential heart defect that required open heart surgery in April. While recovering from this, Owen was then diagnosed with a lung disorder that required another surgery in June in Crumlin Hospital, where he is still recovering. Fergal is Owen's godfather, as we felt there was no better man to be an example to Owen about how to face adversity without giving up. While Owen being away from home for 4 months has had an effect on my training, I am determined to do this event for Fergal as I know he would do the same for me if our places were changed.

Ronan’s Story:

In January of this year, Michael had asked Darragh and me to take on a big physical challenge for his 40th, which is rarely a good idea to say yes to after large amounts of celebratory beverages.

But I was up for the challenge. On looking for a worthy cause there couldn't be any better than that for Fergal. Over the past couple of years I have suffered some physical setbacks but nothing in comparison to Fergal's. I believe it to be a worthy challenge for one great cause.

Michael’s Story:

So I turned 40 in January and I was trying to think of something to mark the occasion. Over the years I have raised money as part of a team for charities in my local community. I thought I'd like to do something that challenges myself personally and raise funds for a worthy cause at the same time.

As the saying goes you can pick your friends but you can't pick your family, I have been lucky enough to have picked great friends in Ronan and Darragh, 2 lads that I would call brothers. Darragh is so much like part of the family he was taken on a Murray family holiday instead of me to France in 2005 (haven't gotten over it).

So when Darragh came to us and said we could do this for Fergal I was 100% in, Fergal is a determined and strong willed guy and a great family man, hopefully whatever we raise goes a long way.

All money raised will go towards Fergals treatment, any donations would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you,

Darragh, Ronan and Michael