Amy’s magic Croker moment
THE steps of the Hogan Stand are known to produce moments of intense emotion, but I doubt there’s one to rival the moment 10-year old Amy O’Connor held aloft the All Ireland Club trophy, just minutes after her heroes had reached the Promised Land. It was a special occasion for Amy and no one felt prouder for her than her mom Triona and dad Brendan who are by Amy’s side throughout her illness. “It was so emotional and it made her so happy. She’s still very happy over it and it was just an incredible gesture by the Crokes. It was such a passionate speech by Johnny and he meant every word of it,” said Brendan. “We were in the stand and I was just so emotional, but I never saw Amy move as fast as she did down those steps, she couldn’t wait to get there. We’ll never forget it.” Amy loves the Crokes and the club has been a great source of comfort and a distraction for her during her battle with cancer. It’s been a tough 12 months for Amy and her family as she underwent treatment in the Children’s Hospital in Crumlin. But Amy attends Crokes’ games and training sessions whenever she can and when she can’t make it, she makes sure dad passes on her best wishes to the team. “She loves Crokes and she’s been playing with them since she was four-years old. It’s all football by her,” Brendan continued. “When she was smaller, up in the field, I would ask her ‘what do you want to do when you grow up?’ and Amy would always answer ‘play with Dr Crokes’. That’s how she saw it. We’ll never forget the day she was diagnosed as our world was turned upside down.
“But since we’ve faced this ordeal, the Crokes have been unreal to us. A dose of inspiration can make a huge difference and what Amy experienced the last day was amazing and it has done her so good. Amy is a fighter and we won’t give up.”
Amy gave plenty of support to the team during the build-up to the final and it was a source of inspiration to all the players – something that wasn’t forgotten when Captain Fantastic, Johnny Buckley, asked Amy to join him on the famous podium.
“It was great to have the opportunity to thank Amy as she’s been an inspiration to us all year and the fact she was there on the day and we were able to thank her in that way was nice,” said Crokes captain, Johnny Buckley.
“She has fought her own battle and the team used to meet her after matches and Brendan would always pass on her messages to us. The week before the final she came to training and we presented her with a signed jersey. She told us she was coming up to Croke Park for the match and when we heard that, it gave us all a great lift,” Johnny added.