Honouring little Darragh

A Leeside cyclist is gearing up to cycle the length of the country in 24 hours in memory of a young boy who died on New Year’s Day.

Ger Cotter from Bridgewater near Ballincollig will set off from Mizen Head in Cork on 19 June to raise money for the Puffin Ward at CUH where young Darragh Guinevan passed away on 1 January.

He hopes to reach Malin Head in Donegal in 24 hours or less.

Darragh, who would have turned 13 in April, suffered from a number of illnesses from an early age and received care at the ward throughout his life.

Mr Cotter will be joined by three close friends who are undertaking the challenge for a separate charity called Cycle Against Suicide.

The challenge is linked to a GoFundMe page called Darragh’s Trust with has already reached approximately €10,000, well over its initial target of €3,000.

A van carrying four backup bikes will accompany the cyclists on their journey as well as a navigation team.

They will stop for ten minutes every 100 kilometres to take on food and water.

Speaking to the Cork Independent, Mr Cotter said the biggest challenge will likely be cycling through the night.

Mr Cotter said: “We will have about six hours of darkness, but we’ll have support cars with us as well with lights,” he said.

The four cyclists, who have been on a strict training schedule since January, will aim to keep up an average speed of 26km per hour in order to complete the challenge without overexerting themselves too early.

Mr Cotter said they will be “riding the heartrate” throughout so as to pace themselves for the 580km non-stop journey.

“We’ll need to keep that in check so that we don’t get too enthusiastic in the first 100k because you’d be burning too many matches,” he said.

The group are hoping for favourable conditions on the day with Met Éireann giving them an 85 per cent chance of a friendly south-westerly wind to help them along. However, recent weather patterns tell a different story.

“For the last three or four months we seem to be getting a northerly wind, so if that continues then we might have to go to plan B and start at Malin Head,” explained Mr Cotter.

Their route will take them through Mizen Head, Dunmanway, Macroom, Charleville, Limerick, Athlone, Cavan, Fermanagh and Derry before entering Donegal for the final stretch to Malin Head.

Mr Cotter predicts the first half of the journey will be the most difficult.

“Some of the most challenging bits will be from Cork to Millstreet as there’s a fair bit of climbing up and down,” he said.

Mr Cotter, a friend of Darragh’s parents for over 30 years, said he is “blown away” by the response the GoFundMe campaign has received from the public.

“The Puffin Ward was incredible for Darragh over his lifetime and they really did amazing things for him and for other kids. It is a lovely cause to be doing it for and it will keep the pedals turning,” he said.

At two weeks old, Darragh underwent an MRI scan and numerous clinical tests due to low muscle tone and feeding issues.

More health issues followed and Darragh soon required around the clock care and multiple procedures. Darragh passed away peacefully on New Year’s Day at 9.50am.

All of the funds raised will go directly to Darragh’s Trust for the provision of enhanced facilities in the Puffin ward at CUH.

To donate, visit gofundme.com and search ‘Darragh’s Trust - Mizen to Malin cycle in 24 hours’.