SPECIAL SPORTING MOMENT AS TEAM DEDICATE TITLE WIN TO PAL
LAST AUGUST, 12-YEAR-OLD CONOR CALLAGHAN PASSED AWAY FOLLOWING AN ASTHMA ATTACK. LAST SUNDAY, HIS FORMER TEAMMATES AT DROMIN UTD WON THE LEAGUE FOR HIM. HUBERT MURPHY REPORTS.
SPORT can be described as many things. An outlet, a passion, a place for heroes, a place for those who don’t fit in to academic life. Even a discipline that can lead to a career, getting paid for something you love.
But down Dromin way, a hamlet sandwiched between Ardee and Dunleer in the heart of Mid Louth, what sport really means was so evident last Sunday.
The Dromin United under 12s played their last game of the season, going into the tie unbeaten in the Dundalk League. They were champions long before the final whistle of this campaign.
But this was no ordinary day.
Missing was a young man who played his part down the years with the team, Conor Callaghan.
He was just 12 years old when he passed away after an asthma attack last August. One minute he was part of a loving family, a dedicated soccer and GAA player, cherished by so many. Suddenly, in the blink of a teary eye, he was gone.
But the community of Dromin simply refused to stand back. Since those sad days of August, Justin, Selina and Clodagh Callaghan have drawn true courage from those who stood shoulder to shoulder with them.
And at a time when the team celebrated their first ever league triumph, they reserved a top table for Conor.
‘He was one in a million, the perfect son,’ his dad Justin stated. ‘Conor had the most infectious smile that anyone had ever seen, not forgetting his trade mark quiff. He loved his hair, he had beautiful big brown eyes, just like his mammy.’
Kevin Prout, manager of the team,
THREE WEEKS AGO WE HAD A PARTY ON HIS BIRTHDAY. HE IS STILL PART OF THIS TEAM
says losing Conor so suddenly was a body blow to the family and the close knit community, but they rallied behind the family, and the family rallied behind them.
‘Justin with Killian Smith are great coaches with the team and we are so thankful to Justin for staying with us. Conor’s memory has brought us all together and we’ll never forget him. Three weeks ago, we had a party on his birthday. He is still part of this team,’ the boss stated.
Justin says Conor lived for sport, be it the soccer or GAA with St Kevin’s.
‘I have to thank Stephen Matthews, David Stokes, Gary Finlay, Kevin Prout and Killian Smith for teaching Conor the games he loved and the community for their support, from the bottom of our hearts,’ he stated.
When Conor passed away, his teammates wrote personal notes about their memories of him, something the family cherished.
‘When we look back now, sending Conor to Dromin National School was the best thing we ever did. Sean Clare and the staff there are wonderful people,’ Justin adds.
His wish now is that the memory of the young man who loved Chelsea and Barcelona, will continue to create awareness of asthma.
‘Conor had asthma but it never got him down. We always had to watch out for the weather and the dampness didn’t help him, but he always smiled, he always wanted to play.
‘Even when he had to go into hospital with it, he still smiled.’
He had inhalers in every location, on, from the family vehicle to the home and school.
When he suffered his fatal attack last August, an ambulance was at the house in Dromin inside six minutes. The crew and then the hospital staff did everything to bring him back, but it wasn’t to be.
‘You just never think it will happen to your family. I suppose we’d like to highlight the dangers around asthma and asthma attacks.’
As the Callaghan family look back on what the last number of months have brought they look to many things and take inspiration from them.
‘One of his friends wrote that he used to play with the Kevin’s but now plays with the best in heaven,’ Justin added.
But he too summed up his lad, ‘ his absence is a silent grief, his life a beautiful memory.’