With the Tour de France over, club members of Kilburn Gaels are taking part for a mammoth physical challenge of their own this weekend. Over 80 cyclists of the London hurling cub are to honour the late Cathal Forde with a 400-mile charity cycle from Highgate in England’s capital to Gort, Co. Galway, starting on July 28 (yesterday) arriving in Gort Co Galway on Sunday evening. All proceeds going to The Cormac Trust and MS Ireland, two charities close to the heart of Cathal’s friends and former team-mates.
Gort native Forde, who was part of the first Kilburn side to win a London Senior Hurling title in 2010, died of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS) during a training session in Highgate, aged 28, in April 2012. The Cormac Trust is a charity that was set up following the sudden death of All-Ireland winning former Tyrone footballer Cormac McAnallen in 2004. It was largely due to the death of Cormac and subsequent cases, such as with Cathal, that the Irish public became aware of the issue of sudden cardiac death among young people.
Cathal’s brothers Niall, Sean and Liam, and cousin Brian are all taking part in the cycle.
From the time of Cormac’s death the McAnallen family was keen to direct public attention to these cardiac conditions that cause such sudden deaths. Hence the family, with the assistance of the Tyrone County Board of the GAA, set up the Cormac Trust. The following are its four objects:
- To raise awareness of sudden cardiac deaths in young people, and its causes;
- To promote cardiac screening for young people, especially for athletes;
- To provide education and information to raise awareness at government level and among other authorities as to the value of providing facilities for the screening of young people;
- To provide automated external defibrillators (AEDs) for sports clubs in the local region, for the use of the entire local community, and to train people in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and the use of defibrillators.
If you are interested in speaking with Liam Forde brother of the late Cathal Forde about the cycle or JP O’Neill Manager of The Cormac Trust please contact me on 0879268066.
Timeline for Sunday 31st – Cycle from Dublin to Galway via Athlone
- 7am: Dublin cyclists leave Lucan Spa hotel car park
- 12:30pm: Dublin cyclists arrive in Athlone (B&Q/AppleGreen Car park, just off Athlone bypass Exit 11)
- 12:30pm: First group of cyclists leave Athlone
- 1:15pm: Main group of cyclists leave Athlone
- 5:30pm: All cyclists arrive in Gort
- The main stop on the leg from Athlone to Gort will be in Kilreekil where there will be toilet facilities available.
There will be real time updates on Facebook so keep an eye for accurate times as the day progresses
Link to their Facebook page and website below