RALLYINGRALLYIN NG RORY IS VISITED BY FITZY AND CHIN
THE WEXFORD team are all heart – and player Lee Chin and manager Davy Fitzgerald proved it when they visited seriously ill Tintern boy Rory Whelan in hospital in Dublin last week.
Rory (13) is battling with Guillain-Barré Syndrome. The keen hurler is being treated in Temple Street’s intensive care unit.
Rory’s aunt Ann Marie Bates said: ‘Doctors are going through baby steps with him. He was in an induced coma, but now they have him breathing without the ventilator for periods.’
SERIOUSLY ILL Tintern youth Rory Whelan was visited in hospital by Wexford hurling manager Davy Fitzgerald last week and by star player Lee Chin, as he makes baby steps forward in his recovery.
Talented hurler Rory Whelan (13), pictured right, was in perfect health up until early April, when he was taken to CareDoc – where he was diagnosed a chest infection and given antibiotics.
Rory couldn’t move his arms or legs and was brought to Wexford General Hospital, from where he was transferred to Temple Street Hospital, where he was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré Syndrome.
He is currently being treated in the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit.
Rory’s aunt Ann Marie Bates said: ‘Doctors are going through baby steps with him and he is improving.
He was in an induced coma, but now they have him breathing without the ventilator for periods.’
More than €20,000 has been raised to support the family of the
Wexford under-14 hurler to date.
People across south west Wexford and from further afield have donated almost €10,000 to a GoFundMe page called Rory’s Road to Recovery and fundraising events have been taking place every week for the popular youth, raising in excess of €10,000, in a remarkable show of solidarity with Rory and his parents Helen Curran and Paul Whelan.
Describing the amount of money raised as ‘incredible’, Ann Marie said: ‘I only started the GoFundMe page to allow people to donate. There is something organised every weekend for him.’
Ann Marie said Rory is getting great medical attention and is responding well.
‘ They changed the ventilation tube in his neck last week and they inserted one so he can talk and they got him to say Hi, but his voice was very faint.
‘He is more or less off the sedation now after nine weeks in hospital. Up until a few weeks ago he was very heavily sedated and he didn’t know what was going on. He knows what is going on now and he is doing a lot of physiotherapy. They have brought him outside in his wheelchair to get him out of bed.’
Ann Marie said Rory was boosted by the arrival of Lee Chin and Davy Fitz in his hospital room earlier this month, adding that the Wexford manager kindly paid another visit to him last week.
A sixth class pupil in Poulfur National School, Rory ‘ lives and breathes’ sport and has a huge passion for hurling. Rory’s mother Helen works at Dillon’s Londis supermarket in Fethard-on-Sea and his father Paul works as a fishermen, but both have been out of work to be by Rory’s side.
‘Paul goes away for two weeks at a time so he couldn’t be away that long from Rory. They just can’t believe the support out there. Everyone has gone to such great lengths; it’s not just the hurling community, it’s the whole community. Absolutely everyone has gotten involved at this stage.’ Ann Marie said doctors are going through baby steps with Rory taking him off the ventilator for increasing times to see if he can manage to breathe on his own, adding that Rory will need very long rehabilitation.
Poulfur NS principal Domini Codd said the schoolchildren were delighted to hear that Rory is on the road to recovery, adding that students and teachers were thinking about him as they prepared for the annual school play. ‘Rory was a big part of our play last year, acting as one of the lead robbers,’ Ms Codd said. Anyone wishing to donate to the fund can do so online. Look up Rory’s Road To Recovery on Gofundme.com.