Celebrity-chef fundraiser for Berkeley balcony survivor

Áine Ryan

IT will be a long-road to recovery for the seven university students who survived the Berkeley balcony tragedy and while their bravery is inspirational, the longterm rehabilitation costs can be prohibitive. This weekend, in a fundraising effort for Aoife Beary, whose uncle is Westport resident, James Doherty, celebrity chef, Neven Maguire will give a cookery demonstration on Friday night next, November 20 at 7.30pm in Hotel Westport. Local artisan food producers will also showcase their produce, including some Christmas fare.
Since the tragic accident on June 16 last, when six students died, Aoife Beary’s family and friends have been at her side supporting her. This weekend’s Westport event, ‘Neven Cooks for Aoife’ is the latest initiative.   
“My niece, Aoife Beary, is a typical young student, who has completed three years of her Science degree in UCD, has a wide circle of friends, with whom she cycled to Galway and took part in a ‘white collar’ boxing tournament to raise funds for various charities including Crumlin Children’s Hospital. She worked every weekend in her local SuperValu to save enough money to pay for the last ‘rite of passage’ of their college years, a summer in California on a J1 American student visa,” explains James Doherty.

Fateful night
But Aoife’s life and that of her closest friends tragically changed on that fateful night as they celebrated her 21st birthday.  
“After a long period in hospital in Berkeley and later Stanford, where her considerable physical injuries were treated, Aoife had made sufficient progress to come home in mid-September and has since been undergoing intensive rehabilitation in the National Rehabilitation Centre (NRC) in Dunlaoghaire,” he tells The Mayo News.
While Aoife’s progress at the NRC, Dun Laoghaire, has been significant, ‘she still has many obstacles to overcome’.
“She requires surgical intervention to allow her to bend her fingers on both hands, which will improve her ability to carry out tasks that need close motor control and fine grip, such as writing and typing. Aoife will also need reconstructive surgery on her teeth – she complains, now that her weight is approaching normal, she would love to eat her favourite food but cannot, because she cannot chew,” says James.  But she is a very determined young lady, he adds, and she hopes  she will be able to return to her part-time job in a nearby Supervalu as part of her rehabilitation.  

Tickets for the fundraiser are available from Hotel Westport and The Creel restaurant, Westport Quay (trisha@thecreel.ie)