Local duo raise over €3,000 for defibrillator group
By Jodie McCormack
Two teenagers have raised over three thousand euro for their local defibrillator group.
Wayne Smith and Emily Cassells have set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for the Ballymore, Boher, and Moyvoughley defibrillator group.
Not only are they raising money for the group but on November 14, Wayne shaved his head and Emily cut eighteen inches off her hair to donate to the Rapunzel foundation, which makes wigs for children who lose their hair to diseases such as cancer and alopecia.
The pair are doing the fundraiser in memory of Wayne’s father Gary Smith who passed away following a heart attack in 2019.
Explaining why they chose to do the fundraiser Emily said: “We both wanted to fundraise for the Ballymore Defibrillator Group as it plays a vital role in supporting the local community as defibrillators are so important in saving lives. We wanted to keep it local as the community was so supportive to Wayne and the Smith family on his father’s passing.”
Ballymahon Vocational School in Longford has aided the fundraising efforts by holding a non-uniform day in the school where everyone donated what they could to the cause.
Wayne is a past pupil of the school while Emily is currently in her Leaving Cert year in the school, playing an important role as head girl and a member of the student council.
Principal Brian Higgins said: “Ballymahon Vocational School has a strong tradition of supporting the community and in turn, the community has been very supportive of our endeavours over the years.”
He praised the student council members who assisted Emily and senior staff in the school in organising the event and congratulated all involved in the successful fundraising day.
Both Emily and Wayne thanked the school along with the local community and their families for their help and encouragement with the fundraiser.
Wayne said: “We have gotten an overwhelming amount of support from all of our friends, relatives and local community in our area. We have both experienced tremendous support from Ballymahon Vocational School and we are so grateful.”
Joe Flanagan chairman of the Ballymore, Bohar and Moyvoughley defibrillator group, expressed the group's gratitude for the fundraiser.
The group had been planning to do some fundraisers of its own to raise the funds but was unable to proceed due to Covid-19 restrictions.
The group plans to use the money fundraised to fund the essential upkeep of the eight defibrillators in the area along with funding a training course in the parish.
Mr Flanagan said : “These defibrillators are an important element of any parish, we’ve had a couple of emergencies in our parish and only for the use of defibrillators those people wouldn’t be with us anymore, funding is crucial to keep them in working condition and we are so grateful for any funding we can acquire.”
He said: “We would like to thank Wayne and Emily very sincerely and wish them the best of luck. We have to stand back and admire these young people doing this for their community.”
If you would like to donate to this fundraiser you can go to the Facebook page “Wayne&Emilys Fundraiser- Ballymore Defibrillators” or donate to the fundraiser on the GoFundMe website.