Shot garda forced to move from US hospital to hotel as costs spiral
Tourist faces bill of €875,000 after New Orleans attack
A YOUNG garda who had a miraculous escape after he was shot while holidaying in the States has been moved out of hospital and into a nearby hotel after the cost of his treatment continued to mount, the Irish Mail on Sunday has learned.
Garda Brian Hanrahan is taking blood-thinning medication and being cared for by a nurse ahead of his flight home, which will hopefully take place this week.
A source told the MoS the hospital bill was rising fast and the cost of his treatment has already reached ‘hundreds of thousands of dollars’.
‘Brian’s doing really well now and it is cheaper for him to be released under hospital supervision to a nearby hotel until he is well enough to fly home.’
Garda Hanrahan’s colleagues have been fundraising on his behalf since the shock news of the shooting broke last week.
They have already raised thousands of euro to help with the spiralling cost of his medical care.
The 30-year-old married father of one was shot several times last week after refusing to hand over cash in an attempted mugging.
Originally from Killenaule in Co. Tipperary but stationed in Newcastlewest, Co. Limerick, he was visiting New Orleans with his father. He was found by police in the early hours of Tuesday, January 27, lying in the driveway of a house on New Orleans Street with multiple gunshot wounds.
Photofits were released and an award offered for information. This week, police in New Orleans arrested two brothers in connection with the shooting. Melvin and Keith Galle were arrested on Tuesday, less than a mile from the scene of the shooting.
Garda Hanrahan told police that he met one of the suspects who took him to the area from the French Quarter, a popular tourist zone. The garda said that he went to an ATM and withdrew $200 but when they reached the 2200 block of New Orleans Street, about two miles north of the French Quarter, a second man approached Mr Hanrahan and asked him for cash. When Mr Hanrahan refused, the suspect shot him, took his money and fled. New Orleans Police had offered a $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspects.
Following the shooting, Garda Hanrahan’s wife, Emma, and mother, Rose, travelled to New Orleans where they joined his father, Brian Snr. He had organised the holiday as a surprise birthday present for his son.
A special account in the name of Brian Hanrahan has been opened at St Paul’s Garda Credit Union, Bohermanna Road, Cork, and the account number is 55322. Despite making steady progress the young garda is ‘likely to be out [of work] for a few months’ and is reportedly facing a €875,000 hospital bill.
The Garda Representative Association collected money so his wife Emma and his mother Rose could fly to New Orleans. Upon arrival at Newark Airport, the two women were welcomed by members of the Port Authority Police Benevolent Association (PAPBA) who gave the Hanrahan family a debit card for $2,000 to help pay for their unexpected travel costs.
PAPBA president Paul Nunziato said the association was ‘proud to support’ Hanrahan’s family and wished him a ‘speedy recovery’.
Gardaí have raised funds
to help pay his bill ‘Likely to be out of work
for a few months’