James Healy is the father of Mathew, a young boy who sadly passed away in February this year.
James set out to do something positive in his boy’s memory and brought the community of Watergrasshill together to raise money for Make-A-Wish Ireland, which has been granting life-changing wishes for children and families for over 40 years.
He organised a motorbike and vintage car run from Watergrasshill, which has raised a staggering €38,645 for Make-A-Wish Ireland.
“It was great to see such a crowd of people turning out for Matthew earlier this year – that was a big thing for me,” James, Mathew’s father said.
“And I’m delighted that it’s going to such a great cause. So some good has come out of all this. There is healing in all of these things.”
David Burns, the head of fundraising with Make A Wish Ireland, said: “We grant wishes to children living with life-threatening illnesses and we have granted over 3,000 wishes since 1992 and hope to grant over 220 wishes this year alone.
“We hope to bring joy, hope and lasting memories to those children and their families.
“Whatever the wish is, we work with the child to understand what’s in their imagination, and we work really hard to make a wish as close to that as possible.
“And the important thing for us is to ensure not just that the wish happens, but it’s about the anticipation of the wish, the wish happening and then the ripple effect, to ensure that the impact of it lasts for a long time afterwards.”
“It’s creating memories for children and their families and communities when they are going through such a tough time.”
“It’s about trying to give them something positive to focus on when life is extremely tough.”
