Making Tomorrow for Tomás

The All-Ireland winning Corofin football team are rowing in behind a major fundraiser for a nine-year-old local lad who is living with major physical disabilities.

Funding of around €100,000 is required to adapt the home of Tomás McLoughlin – a young boy with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy – to suit his requirements.

Galway county star Ian Burke is a major part of the fundraiser which involves a 213 kilometre cycle from Croke Park to Corofin on Sunday, August 4.

Dual star Daithi Burke, along with several of the Corofin footballers who achieved All-Ireland glory, are expected to take part in the event.

Tomás is the son of Ann Marie (a member of the Duggan family from Renmore) and Shane McLoughlin who was born at 26 weeks, when he and his twin arrived unexpectedly into the world.

Sadly his brother Sean passed away after 30 days. Tomás is now nine years old and needs financial support to live in his own home independently. The launch of the cycle takes place on this Friday at the Bare Pantry in Liosban at 10am.

His parents say that he gets very little if any funding from Enable Ireland – so it is all down to the support of family and friends along with the fundraising events.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.