A West Belfast football club is set to pay tribute to one of its former players with a special memorial tournament on July 17. Tullymore Swifts will remember Tony Campbell who died in January 2017 at the age of 29.
Tony died after becoming ill at home. It was later detected he had an underlying heart condition.
Tullymore have organised the tournament to remember Tony, and also raise vital funds for the CRY (Cardiac Risk in the Young) charity. It is also looking to highlight the dangers of undiagnosed heart conditions.
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Since Tony passed away in 2017, two other former Tullymore players have suffered similar cardiac conditions. In 2020, Marc Prendergast died after being admitted to hospital, and Brendan Dorrian miraculously survived after collapsing and being resuscitated thanks to a pitchside defibrillator.
"This is the sixth annual #TC5 Tournament in memory of Tony. He would have turned 35 on July 15 this year," said Tullymore chairman James Murphy.
"We’re organising this charity event to once again raise funds and awareness for the CRY charity. We hope that by doing this we not only keep Tony’s memory alive but help raise funds and awareness so we can help prevent this from happening to others.
"One in 300 have a similar cardiac issue and at least 12 fit and healthy people under the age of 35 die in the UK every single week. Tullymore players Tony Campbell and Marc Prendergast have both died and Brendan Dorrian was resuscitated on the side of a pitch in 2020 after suffering a similar issue.
"And we’re just a small club with approximately 150 members."
Tullymore also plan to run the tournament as a family fun day at Donegal Celtic Park. There will be plenty of entertainment and activities for kids to run alongside the match which kicks off at 10am.
James said: "Thanks to our club sponsors and multiple local businesses we are able to extend the tournament into a family fun day at the DC. We have a bouncy castle, ice cream van, facepainter and a huge selection of sweets and treats for the kids.
"The Eimear’s Wish Foundation coffee cart will also be in attendance and we aim to help them get more people signed up to the Anthony Nolan and DKSM registry’s. As always, we’ll also be raising some funds and awareness for the mental health charity TAMHI."
The whole day will be free to attend, but organisers just ask people to donate on the day and to the club's JustGiving page.
"There will also be a raffle with over 25 prizes to be won, including an overnight stay in the Grand Central Hotel. So there are some great prizes to be won," James added.
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