Boxing legend Barry McGuigan has led tributes after the death of a young Monaghan man and GAA player Dion Conlon.
The 25-year-old died in the early hours of Monday morning after a battle with a rare form of cancer called adenocarcinoma which affected his lungs. Dion was given the diagnosis just six weeks ago by doctors and had been undergoing treatment in Liverpool.
Irish champion boxer and fellow Monaghan man Barry McGuigan was one of the first to pay tribute on Monday.
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The Clones native said on Twitter: "I put a tweet out the other day to try to rally support for a young Killeevan man called Dion Conlon (25) who had a rare type of cancer. Tragically Dion died yesterday. My deepest sympathies go out to his devastated parents Brian & Alison & siblings Jordan & Chelsea."
Dion's GAA club in Monaghan, Killeevan Sarsfields, also paid a heartfelt tribute: "It’s with great sadness that we, Killeevan Sarsfields GAA club, announce the death of a young Killeevan man, Dion Conlon in the early hours of this morning 29/08/22 after a short illness.
"Dion was a very happy, positive person who made friends easily and returned their friendship with interest. He played football with our club throughout every age group and was a key player on the double winning Reserve team in 2015.
"The son of Brian and Alison and brother of Jordan and Chelsea we offer our sincere condolences to them at this terrible time. May he rest in peace. Suaimhneas síoraí do."
Dion's family described him as "bubbly, loving and caring."
"Dion has many friends near and far and is dearly loved by them all" they continued. The family have now thanked people for their support through a GoFundMe page.
They said: "On behalf of Dion and all the Conlon Family, we would like to express our sincere gratitude for all your kind donations, messages, thoughts and prayers.
"Dion and ourselves are totally overwhelmed by the massive response that came from every corner of the world, this shows Dion in his true light; a light that we hope continues to shine brightly on us all; continue to be yourself, our very own angel."
€41,000 had been raised to support Dion's treatment which was continuing in Liverpool before his untimely death.
Dion was an active and healthy 25-year-old before his devastating diagnosis just six weeks ago. He enjoyed GAA and running for exercise.
In an update last week, Dion's family explained: "Dion’s journey began 5 weeks ago with an unexpected admission to hospital in Liverpool. After some tests, the news came that all family dreads last Friday, 12th August 2022, when we received the heart-breaking diagnosis of 'adenocarcinoma' of the lung; which in plain English is a rare type of lung cancer, rarely seen in a young person."
His family hoped to get him to Clatterbridge Cancer Centre to receive chemotherapy.
They said at the time they were expecting the road to be "terrifying" and "a long one" but tragically just days after publishing the GoFundMe page, Dion died in hospital.
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