Five lifelong friends will be walking across Ireland to fundraise for a Dublin man who has been in hospital for over a year since contracting Covid-19.
Raheny man Darren O'Connor, 37, is suffering from Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome — a rare post-Covid condition that has left him unable to speak or move his body. As a result, Darren can only communicate via his eyes and by tilting his head slightly.
Childhood friend, Eoin McMahon, 36, will be making a gruelling 207.5-kilometre journey from Galway to Dublin with four other friends to raise money to help cover the costs of Darren's treatment. Speaking about his beloved friend, Eoin told Dublin Live: "We’ve known each other since secondary school. We were thick as thieves. I went on his family holidays and he come to my family holidays. We were inseparable.
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"[The walk] is going to be hard but I have no doubt that if I was in his position, Darren might not be walking from Galway but he’d be doing something for me. I know he would. He’d be there for me so I’d be there for him."
Eoin explained how Darren had tested positive for Covid-19 in October 2021 and was rushed to hospital with a very high temperature and raised blood pressure. three weeks later. A couple of days later, Darren was in ICU and went into respiratory arrest.
He said: "He was on life support in ICU for two months. His temperature in ICU is 43 degrees.
"Nobody survives that. The consultant said once the body temperature gets that high… that’s it. But he still fought."
Darren, who used to work as a manager at Carrolls Gifts, is currently in Beaumont Hospital and is awaiting a bed in the National Rehabilitation Hospital where he'll be undergoing intensive rehab. Eoin said: "He can hear us, he can understand us but it's almost like he's locked in."
But Eoin said he still has his sense of humour. He laughed: "I'll tell him dad jokes and he'll be smiling away. I had 30 best dad jokes up on my phone and we’re laughing away.
"I stopped when I got to the 30th and put my phone in my pocket. I looked back at him and he was staring at me with this angry look because he just wanted me to crack out some more jokes."
Eoin, who's known Darren since he was 12, said: "He’s very funny, very witty. I've never known anyone to fall out with Darren. He’s always joking, always laughing. He’s just a good guy to be around."
He added that Darren was a healthy 35-year-old when he got Covid and had no health issues. "He got the two jabs at the time. Back then, Covid was very serious but what we were told is if you were young, you might be sick for a few days, you’d have to isolate but you’d be fine.
"But turns out, Darren was the unluckiest one. I mean, in some ways, he’d also be the luckiest, he’s the only person that has the complication he’s got that’s still here."
Eoin, along with his mates, Robert Ryan, Marc Malone, Gary Moore, and Conor Bergin will be walking from Galway to Dublin May 29 to June 3 to raise money to help Darren's wife, Sam, with his health expenses. "The aim is to get him home and his family will purchase the necessary aids and appliances to ensure he'll have the care he needs.
"In the unfortunate event that Darren will not be in a position to return home all funds raised will be donated to Beaumont Hospital and the National Rehabilitation Hospital," Eoin said.
Eoin and his friends are preparing for the arduous journey by going to regular walks and runs. Eoin said they have been inundated with support and well wishes from family, friends, and strangers.
Eoin was contacted by safety consultant, John Francis Clare, who lent his hand after seeing the GoFundMe page. Eoin said: "He's prepared a 42-page dossier which he’s sent off to all the guards. He’s mapped out a route that’s safe and he’s secured a van that’s going to drive behind us just to make sure we don’t get run over."
Additionally, the group has been sponsored by Gym+Coffee who gave them some gear for the walk.
You can help Darren's friends and family bring him home by donating on the GoFundMe page.
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