Families devastated after two cousins die tragically

THE families of two ‘sports mad’ cousins have been left devastated after both young men died within weeks of each other.

The body of bartender Damien ‘Damo’ Scanlon, 30, who died in an accident in the US last week, is to be returned to his home town today for burial tomorrow.

Mr Scanlon, 30, from Knockaderry, Co. Limerick, fractured his skull after slipping on ice on January 17 after finishing his shift at O’Sullivan’s Irish Bar in Herndon, a town in Fairfax County, Virginia. He was the only child of Jimmy and Patricia Scanlon, and is also survived by his 93-year old grandmother, Aggie Mescall.

It’s the second tragedy to hit the family in less than a month. His first cousin Tom Griffin, 37, from Kildimo, Co. Limerick, died from cancer on Christmas Day.

Mr Griffin, who is survived by his wife Mags and two young children Ben and Liadh, was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour last September.

A source close to the family said: ‘Tom was very well liked by everyone. He was very much involved in sport. He played GAA.

‘He was an engineer and he had just been appointed to the Molyneaux firm on day he was diagnosed with the tumour. It’s very sad. Everybody had a good word for him.’

The Griffin and Scanlon families were described as being the ‘most decent people one would ever have to come across’. A source said: ‘It’s a massive tragedy for both families. There are young children who have lost their father and there are parents who have lost their only child.’

Mr Scanlon’s uncle Tom Scanlon said: ‘Naturally the family are devastated. He is an only child. He has his ‘nan’ who lives here in Knockaderry, she’s 93, and he was one of her grandchildren. She is in a situation whereby, less than three weeks ago, she buried another grandson called Thomas Griffin.’