A TALENTED young Southside footballer has played his
part in helping a little girl with a debilitating condition to travel to the
United States for surgery that will help her walk independently for the first
time.
Eight-year-old Ciaran Duffy from Saggart, who plays
football for the under nines at his local club Rathcoole Boys FC, regularly
entertains and wows spectators with his soccer freestyle skills.
Now a popular sport in its own right, freestyle
football involves the expression of skill with a football and performing tricks
using various parts of the body.
Ciaran’s proud father, Michael, explained how his son
helped raise funds for little five-year-old Niamh Moriarty from Dalkey, who is
currently unable to walk after being diagnosed with spastic dyplegia, a form of
cerebral palsy that affects her lower limbs.
Ciaran took part in a freestyle event for local people
at the Cuala GAA Club in Dalkey, which was part of a wider effort to raise the
?¬60,000 needed to send Niamh for an operation to St Louis Children’s Hospital
in Missouri.
The operation will be followed by about five months of
intensive physiotherapy after which Niamh will hopefully be able to walk.
Niamh’s father, Tom Moriarty, described Ciaran’s
efforts as a
“fantastic help
?.
“Ciaran Duffy was very talented in displaying his
football skills and raising funds for Niamh at the fundraiser on our Santa Day
before Christmas,
? he said.
“We are finished our fundraising now and have achieved
the target. Niamh will be going for her operation in a couple of months and she
is currently doing a lot of physiotherapy to strengthen her for the operation.
?
Michael revealed how Ciaran has also performed with
the Professional Irish Freestyle Crew at the Toys 4 Big Boys event in Citywest
last year.
“He did some freestyling at the event after seeing an
advert,
? he said.
“The professional freestylers there were asking the kids if
they could compete against them. So Ciaran walked in and did a few little
things.
“They were amazed at what he could do and he got a
bigger applause from the crowd than they did. The professional freestylers were
in their late teens and early 20s and would have competed at world
championships but they were very impressed with Ciaran. The freestylers said he
was brilliant.
?
Anyone who wants to witness Ciaran’s football
freestyle skills can go to the Youtube link below, which shows him entertaining
at the fundraiser for Niamh Moriarty in Dalkey.