GMac Foundation continues its great work

For four years, the GMac Foundation has organised this visit by patients of the cardiac unit at Crumlin Children’s Hospital, the centre of excellence for Ireland North and South, plus parents and siblings.

The foundation, managed by Dubliner Colin Morrissey, has teamed up with stars like Robbie Keane, Jonathan Sexton and Eamonn Coghlan to raise a whopping $2.5 million for the hospital’s Children’s Medical Research Fund but this annual visit has a special place in McDowell’s heart.

“Colin and Joe Quincey and the guys at the CMRF have been hugely influential in putting it together and the support from Aer Lingus, giving us 35 return flights each of the last four years, is huge,” he explained.

“It’s wonderful to be able to give families four or five days in the sun and an experience that, hopefully, can help bond them back together. Having a very sick young child is tough on families. Effectively, they are torn apart by the time they’ve had to spend in hospitals.

“We’ve enjoyed getting to know the people and their stories, which can be heart-warning, sometimes heart-breaking too,” he added, explaining one child who visited them in recent years has since passed away.

“Thankfully, that’s not a big number, considering how sick some of these children are but it’s heart-rending.”