Dáithí’s magical morning at Windsor
Brave youngster Dáithí Mac Gabhann was special guest at Windsor Park earlier today.
Five-year-old Dáithí was born with a condition called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, which means that Dáithí was born with half a working heart. Dáithí now requires a heart transplant to save his life and has been on the waiting list for over three years. His parents have set up the Donate4Dáithí campaign to raise awareness of organ donation and have spearheaded a campaign to change the law to soft opt-out organ donation in Northern Ireland, in line with the rest of the UK.
Visiting with his father Máirtín and grandfather Marty, Dáithí took to the pitch at Windsor Park and scored an unstoppable penalty against our goalkeeper Chris Johns, which was followed by a roar of applause from the whole first team squad.
Football fan Dáithí witnessed the training session from the side of the pitch, where he met team manager David Healy and the rest of the first team. Dáithí’s father, Máirtín said:
“We have been absolutely blown away by the support of Linfield Football Club. When we reached out, Pat Fenlon (General Manager) got back to us straight away wanting to help and we can’t thank him and David Healy enough. We are trying our best to normalise organ donation in our society, and football is a massive part of that society. Linfield are a massive club and to have their support is fantastic. We hope that it will encourage the Linfield fans and community to consider joining the NHS Organ Donor Register.”
Back in 2017, Dáithí and his family were told that the only course of treatment for the youngster would be a heart transplant.
Dáithí has now been on the waiting list for a heart transplant for more than three years, and as the search continues his family launched the Donate4Dáithí campaign to raise awareness of organ donation, while he waits.
Since the campaign launched, over 150,000 have signed the organ donation register in Northern Ireland and the campaign are proud to have played a role in that.
For information on how you can join this organ donor register and details on the Donate4Dáithí campaign visit:
https://www.organdonationni.info
www.donate4daithi.org
Give Donate4Dáithí a follow on one their social media pages:
www.facebook.com/donate4daithi
www.twitter.com/donate4daithi
www.instagram.com/donate4daithi
With appreciation to our media partners at Pacemaker Press for their photos below
