A CORK city family are hoping to raise substantial funds for West Cork Rapid Response after the team came to the rescue of their son and his friends following a two-car head-on collision outside Drimoleague last year.
Brian and Toni Foley from Blackrock told The Southern Star that Dr Jason van der Velde and his team were the first responders to the accident involving their son Liam and his friends.
They set up a GoFundMe page for the organisation as a result of the accident.
‘Liam and two of his friends had been driving back from Bantry on January 26th 2021 and the roads were extremely icy at the time. They were just coming into Drimoleague when Liam lost control of the car due to the ice and it flipped around a couple of times before it hit an oncoming car with two passengers in it,’ said Brian.
‘Liam and his friend in the back seat were both knocked unconscious, while their other friend banged his head but was able to get out of the car. Thankfully, the passengers in the other car were relatively okay.’ Dr Jason and his team were the first to arrive at the scene and Brian said their work certainly helped Liam and his friend. ‘They were marvellous and made the difference before the ambulance arrived to take them to CUH. It wasn’t until the next morning that we got to see Liam in hospital and he had bleeding on his brain, kidneys and liver. He was completely dazed.’
Liam ended up spending two weeks in hospital and even spent his 21st there before going home where he spent about eight weeks recovering.
‘He had lots of cracked ribs, a cracked sternum and pelvis and had an operation on his shoulder.
‘He missed about 10 weeks in college at MTU but he managed to finish his college year, which was great,’ explained Brian.
Brian and his friends host an annual Christmas fundraiser in Blackrock and held the event recently in the Venue Bar, with funds going to the West Cork Rapid Response.
‘Between this event and our GoFundMe page, we hope to raise at least €5,000 for West Cork Rapid Response and they are delighted that we are giving something back to them. We owe them so much so we will be forever grateful. Without doubt their fast response saved the lives of Liam and his friends.’
See ‘Funds to help support West Cork Rapid Response’ on GoFundMe
