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The Interview Since surviving a life-threatening infection, Andrew Finn has gone on to record many sporting successes.
Rising and shining
The Interview Michael Commins
MENINGITIS. That nightmare word that strikes terror in the heart of every parent. Nobody thinks it will happen in their family circle. The Finn family from Derrymore, Hollymount were no different. But trips to Limerick and Ennis at the backend of 2002 were to change all that. It was Halloween break time in 2002 and 12-year-old Andrew found himself in Limerick swimming with the Claremorris club. He came home on the Thursday night and said his knee was sore. Not a lot of notice was taken at the time. His mother Pamela takes up the story: "We were going away the next evening for a fostering weekend in Clare and he came with us. He was very tired but we presumed it was all to do with the training he was doing for the swimming. We got there on Friday evening and on Saturday they went on a tour of the Burren and an activity centre. We were still back at the conference at the hotel. "The head person on the bus that had brought the children to the Burren rang to say that Andrew had been sick and asked to meet us at the lobby of the hotel. We discovered that he had got sick and that he had a temperature. We presumed that it was just a bug. So we went up to the hotel room with him and we ordered dinner as he was hungry at that stage. He started to eat it but got violently sick. He was very hot at this stage. We enquired about a doctor and I gave him some Panadol which I had with me. I didn't sleep much that night because there was just something about the way he was and the high temperature that didn't seem right." They headed home to Mayo on Sunday morning, skipping the main conference. Young Andrew was not in good shape. "He went to bed around 1 o'clock and woke around half-two, saying he was feeling horrible and his knee was very sore. So I rang and it was Dr Townley in Ballindine that was on. We went over to Ballindine and when he lifted the t-shirt, he saw the red spots. He said he'd like to see him again at 7 o'clock that evening. He gave me one anti-biotic tablet for him to take, which he took as soon as he got home. He lay on the settee and I went to bed for an hour or two because I was very tired after the weekend. "When I got up around 6pm, he said his head was splitting and that the light was hurting him. So I rang Dr Townley again and I said ‘I'm coming straight over’. We went over and Dr Townley looked at him again and he just looked at me and said 'I don't think I have to say what I think it is' and I said 'no'. He said 'straight to Castlebar with him',” recalls Pamela. A frantic drive to Mayo General Hospital ensued, followed by a hectic few days of worry and uncertainty for the family. The prospect of meningitis loomed large, but confirmation was slow in coming. "We met Dr Fox on Tuesday afternoon and he said yes, it was meningitis and the bad form of it but that he was probably got in time but what side effects he may have he didn't know. Andrew had a rough night again on Tuesday and Wednesday but he began to pick up on Thursday. That was the real turning point. He was let home within 13 days of being admitted. They did say that his physical fitness was one of the things that stood to him. "Certainly, we feared for him on the Sunday night and again on Monday and Tuesday. We didn't know which way it might go.” While he was re-admitted to hospital in early December, having picked up viral pneumonia, he was back at school in St Colman’s College in Claremorris three days before the Christmas holidays. The nightmare had passed. Not only did Andrew survive the meningitis but he has gone on to record some remarkable achievements in the aftermath. Within weeks, he was back swimming with Claremorris and within a year he was part of a squad that broke two Irish records. It represented a phenomenal recovery by the young lad who diced with death a short time earlier. "I started back training in January and swam in the Connacht championships and qualified for the All-Ireland. As a first year, I ended up swimming on the intermediate relay squad. In December 2003, they presented me with the Paddy O'Brien Trophy for the Club Person of the Year. It was acknowledgement of what I had come through and it gave me a great incentive to go on. "From February, 2004, achievements starting coming along and things started picking up and I came sixth in the All-Ireland back crawl. I won a number of provincial individual gold medals and silver and bronze individuals at national level. As part of the college relay team, together with Eddie McLoughlin, Ricky O'Neill and Simon Heffernan, we broke the freestyle intermediate record and won the medley as well. Gareth Brennan became part of the squad the next year." Andrew has since won two national Water Polo college titles with St Colman's and one with the Claremorris club. He is currently teaching swimming classes after completing an assistant teaching course. Away from the pool, he has become heavily involved with the Red Cross. "I am sub assistant unit officer with Claremorris Red Cross, which is basically third in command at the Claremorris unit. Gerard McCallig is the area director and Tom Clarke is the unit officer while Pat Merrick is the regional director. The team I was with last year came second in the Red Cross national competition and Ger McHale [Claremorris] came first in the individual category. What stood to me was that I had done life saving courses at Claremorris pool." It's a rather hectic life these days for Andrew (17) who will commence his final year studies for his Leaving Certificate in a few weeks time. He is actively involved with the Claremorris No Name Club and also with the Pioneers. About two years ago, he took an interest in music and doing some deejay work. He now presents two shows each weekend on Claremorris Community Radio. "My taste in music is very wide. My uncle has done some deejay work and he brought me to a few weddings and 21st parties. I started doing youth discos and building up the equipment and have done loads of birthday parties and all that stuff. I love doing them. I did a spot as Deejay for a Day with Padraig Walsh on Mid West Radio a few weeks ago and it was a great experience." Nearly all of the events around those two weeks in 2002 are but a haze to Andrew. "I don't remember those days. There was a memory loss at the time. When I hear the story being told again, I realise it's not me remembering. It's just that I have heard the stories so many times." For Pamela, it was a a life-changing experience. "It has changed my outlook on life because you can't take things for granted anymore. I suppose things that I would have worried about or have had arguments about before that, I think they are silly now and I just appreciate life much more. The fact that he has achieved so much, from student of the year awards in St Colman's to doing so well with the swimming club and the Red Cross and No Name Club, it just seems that everything he touches goes very well and long may it stay that way for him."
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This one-woman show stars Brídín Ní Mhaoldomhnaigh, an actress, writer and presenter who has several screen credits including her role as Katy Daly on Ros na Rún, and the award-winning TV drama Crá
Breaffy Rounders will play Glynn Barntown (Wexford) in the Senior Ladies Final and Erne Eagles (Cavan) in the Senior Men's All-Ireland Final in the GAA National Games Development Centre, Abbotstown
Breaffy Rounders will play Glynn Barntown (Wexford) in the Senior Ladies Final and Erne Eagles (Cavan) in the Senior Men's All-Ireland Final in the GAA National Games Development Centre, Abbotstown
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