New York’s Kerry community rallies behind injured biker

A BALLYLONGFORD man who suffered horrific injuries when his motorbike was involved in a head-on crash with an SUV last year is the focus of a massive fundraiser in New York this week.

PJ Flavin (pictured right), a native of Rusheen in Ballylongford where his father Dan and sister Cecelia still live, is the focus of the day-long fundraiser on Sunday at the Kerrymen’s Association Hall in Yonkers.

PJ was hit by an SUV while taking part in a 500-mile motorbike run from New York to the Catskills in July of last year. He is credited with having saved the lives of his fellow bikers, according to long-time friend Tony Collins who said: “PJ took the hit... only for that we would all have been hit. He saved our lives.”

PJ’S right leg had to be amputated from below the knee after the crash. Now making a slow recovery, he is wheelchairbound for most of the time and is facing many months of intense care, including more surgery to save his left knee.

“We were on the way up when I was hit by the SUV, three of us came off our bikes but I got hit head-on by the vehicle,” PJ told The Kerryman. “I knew straight away that something was seriously wrong from the amount of pain I was in and I was on the road waiting for an ambulance for 45 minutes, as I was way up in the boondocks as they say.

“They had to amputate my right leg from the knee down and my femur (thigh bone) was completely shattered. I had to get plates in my back as my spine was damaged as well but luckily there was no paralysis.”

Screws have been put in place to help his femur knit together and PJ is required to carry a battery pack around, which sends regular electrical impulses across the bone to stimulate growth. In all, PJ underwent 14 operations and was hospitalised for three months.

“I look at the positives now and we’ve fantastic support from all our friends here in the tight-knit Irish American community as well as at home. The fundraiser is a massive help as I’m facing huge costs for a long time to come,” he said.

Muiris Brick of the Kerrymen’s Association in New York is calling on everyone who can to help out. “The expenses are in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and the Kerrymen’s Association mission now is to put an almighty dent in them with our spectacular fundraiser which will last all day on Sunday,” he said.