The brave mum Louise James, who tragically lost five of her family in the Buncrana Pier tragedy has confirmed that she will run part of the Belfast Marathon to help raise much needed funds for the charity that helped her recently deceased son Evan.
The courageous Louise revealed that she will run a stretch of the city race along with hero Davitt Walsh, who saved her daughter Rioghnach-Ann, and more than 100 friends and family. There welcome participation in the marathon comes as family friend Tommy McCallion organised the event #Teamevan, in a bid to raise money for Muscular Dystrophy UK, along with raising the profile of the illness.
The duo’s confirmed participation comes less than a month after little Evan, 8, died along with his brother 12-year-old Mark, their dad and Louise’s partner Sean McGrotty, and his grandmother Ruth Daniels and her 15-year-old daughter Jodie-Lee when their car came off the slipway at Buncrana pier on March 20.
The idea for the event came when Former footballer Tommy McCallion and his son Tom decided they wanted to celebrate the memory of little Evan. Mr McCallion told reporters: “My son Tom was best friends with Evan and he knows I run marathons usually to raise money for the Foyle Hospice, so it was him who asked could I do one in memory of Evan.
“I said ok, and within about a week of starting to ask people we’ve got 125 people doing the relay and three people doing the full marathon. “It’s just been incredible, the support we’re getting. I spoke to Louise and it was her who asked me to do it for Muscular Dystyrophy UK. “But she’s going to run it as well, as is Davitt Walsh, and I’ve organised it so Louise and Davitt and other family members who are taking part will be doing the final leg of their relays.
The former footballer explained: “It’s going to be such an emotional day, but I just hope something positive comes out of it in that the profile of Muscular Dystrophy is raised as well as some money for research into the condition.
“Louise and the charity have been great in helping getting this organised. “It’s been a very tough time for Derry, but you can see that they’ve come together for this, people from Derry and from Donegal all wanting to get involved.
“We’re getting T-shirts printed at the minute and everyone will be wearing them on the day, so people won’t be running for their clubs or what ever, they’ll be running for Team Evan, so it’s going to be pretty powerful stuff to see all those people wearing the Muscular Dystrophy colours.”
It is believed that little Evan suffered from a life-limiting condition known as Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and all money raised from the event will be donated to the Duchenne Research Breakthrough Fund which is administered by the Muscular Dystrophy UK charity.