U21 All-Ireland victory dedicated to SADS victims

The Mater Foundation deeply appreciate the leadership shown by the Dublin’s U21 footballers who defeated Roscommon on Sunday and dedicated their All-Ireland success to the memory of Ciarán Carr, who passed away in a suspected case of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS) earlier this year.

“Huge congratulations to the Dublin U21 Football Team on their win. Dedicating this achievement to Ciaran was a wonderfully heartfelt tribute by Kevin, Seaghan and the team and we appreciate this opportunity to be involved in raising such vital awareness of SADS and Sudden Cardiac Death amongst the community.” Mary Moorhead, CEO of the Mater Foundation.

Ciaran Carr, from Clondalkin, died suddenly as he was training with his local Round Tower’s GAA Club in January 2012. He was participating in an indoor circuit training session when he suddenly fell forward and collapsed.

Dublin’s U21 Captain Kevin O’Brien dedicated the win to Ciaran in his victory speech in Tullamore and urged people to check out the http://www.sads.ie website.

Seaghan Kearney, who was part of the background team doing statistics, is a survivor of SADS and is also an active campaigner for the Mater Foundation Heart Appeal which aims to highlight the importance of early defibrillation and family screening.

The Mater Foundation funds the Family Heart Screening Clinic from donations made from the public. They have recently launched a website to SADS and you can visit it at http://www.sads.ie.