Evelyn praised for bravery at Stadium shooting
Sixteen year old boxing champion Evelyn Igharo showed that she has a cool head outside the ring as well as inside when she was caught up in a gangland shooting in Dublin recently,
Evelyn, from Mullaharlin Park, who boxes with the Clann Naofa Boxing Academy, Muirhevnamor, had just beaten Danielle McSweeney from Cork to take her 8th Irish title, and was having pictures taken with supporters and fans at the front of the National Stadium when gunshots rang out in what turned out to be part of a long standing feud between local gangs
The Marist student displayed great bravery when she grabbed the younger children surrounding her and ran with them through to the stadium to safety. Once out of direct harm, Evelyn got the children to lie under a parked bus for their protection until they were told it was safe.
Evelyn didn’t even think of her own safety as her focused on making sure that the young people in her company were safe in the ensuing panic.
Speaking afterwards she said that had just been concerned with calming the younger children, as some of them were very upset.
‘ They were crying and I was trying to keep them calm,’ she said. ‘I was telling them that everything was grand.’
Her coaches from Clann Naofa, Jim O’Neill and Gerard Ronan, paid tribute to Evelyn for her bravery and fast thinking in what was a very frightening situation.
‘ This is just a typical example of the bravery and selflessness that Evelyn possesses,’ Jim told The Argus. ‘She is certainly a wonderful role model for all of the other young boxers in our club and the local district of Dundalk.’