In 2022, talented Tipperary hurler Dillon Quirke collapsed while playing a Tipperary SHC match for his club against Kilruane MacDonaghs at Semple Stadium.
The then 24-year-old was taken to Tipperary University Hospital but sadly passed away shortly after.
It was later discovered that the talented sportsman died from SADS (Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndrome).
SADS often comes with no previous symptoms. It's typically caused by underlying heart conditions, such as arrhythmias (irregular heartbeats) or structural heart abnormalities in young adults.
Since Dillon Quirke's death, the Dillon Quirke Foundation has been established in memory of the Tipperary hurler. Its aim is to raise awareness and reduce the number of young people who die from SADS.
To date, Dan Quirke, Dillon's father, who runs the organisation, has helped get 10,000 people in Ireland tested for the condition. There are even bigger targets and goals in mind for the DQF.
This month, the Irish Post sat down with Dan Quirke to learn all about the foundation, what his son was like, what he feels should be done in terms of mandatory SADS testing, and much more.
(Image: Ray McManus/Sportsfile via Getty Images)Irish Post: I'd like to get a sense of who Dillon was and the type of character he was. Could you paint a picture of him, especially during his life?
Dan Quirke: "Yeah, so look, Dillon was in the middle of three kids. Kelly's our youngest, Dillon was next, and Jenna's our eldest. He was a mad sports fanatic all his life. The minute he could walk, he had a hurling stick in his hand. He played all sports—hurling, soccer, football, rugby—and was good at them all, to be fair. He was a very athletic young fella. Six foot two, thirty and a half stone, six percent body fat. Training was a big thing for him, but he was a really fun guy, always up for a laugh and playing jokes," said Dan Quirke.
"He wasn’t too keen on school; it wasn’t a big thing for him. Once he was on holidays, he was happy. After school, he went to college for a month, but it wasn’t for him—he wasn’t into the whole social scene. He then joined a company called HMV Engineering in Limerick, working as a high-voltage electrician for four years. After that, he joined our delicatessen business, and that was great for him. He could dovetail between the business and his training schedule.
"We travelled all over the world together, being Munster, Manchester United, Ireland, and Lions supporters. A highlight was a three-week trip to New Zealand with the Lions in 2017. The kind of guy Dillon was, you could mix with him whether he was seven or seventy. He’d light up any room and always had a smile on his face. In fact, even in the year he passed, he played every minute of the championship for Tipperary and was named player of the year. He always had that smile. It’s amazing how he could play at such a high level with that smile on his face. He was just a great guy—funny, kind, and an all-around good person."
Irish Post: When the tragedy happened in 2022, where were you when you heard, and how did you cope with it?
Dan Quirke: "Yeah, sure. Dillon was playing in Tipperary on the 5th of August, 2022, when it happened. He was playing a cracking game, normally a halfback, but was playing center-forward, having a great game and called over to his teammate, Craig. Dillon said to Craig, "I’m in trouble," and by the time Craig turned around, Dillon had collapsed. He had a cardiac arrest.
"We worked on him for 20 minutes on the pitch, and then 50 minutes underneath the stand before rushing him to South Tipperary General Hospital. Unfortunately, we couldn’t bring him back, and he was gone. The feeling of numbness is horrendous. It’s incredibly hard to believe someone so young could be gone. You shouldn’t lose a child—it’s just something no one should have to experience. It's a difficult feeling to explain, but those who have lost a child will understand what I mean. It’s been a horrendous time, but through that tragedy, we started the foundation, which has been a big source of support for me."
Dillon Quirke, go dtuga Dia suaimhneas síoraí dá anam. pic.twitter.com/T8qejzMAnE
— Spórt TG4 (@SportTG4) August 8, 2022
Irish Post: The GAA is a very strong community-orientated organisation. How did the community around you help you as a family in dealing with this?
Dan Quirke: "The GAA community was absolutely amazing—not just locally, but all over the country. Dillon was wearing number 11 for Tipperary at the time, and when the funeral came around, the response was overwhelming. People from all over the country showed up wearing their own club's number 11 jerseys. The wake went on for 12 hours, from noon until midnight, with people coming from places as far as Donegal and Cork," he added.
"It was just incredible to see such an outpouring of support. The GAA community is remarkable. While we might compete fiercely in sports, when something like this happens, the community comes together. It has been an incredible source of support for us, and it has really helped the family through this difficult time."
Irish Post: Did you ever imagine it would be so successful?
Dan Quirke: "We never imagined that. We set up the foundation to raise awareness, and soon after, we partnered with Advanced Medical Services to do the screenings. At first, we had no idea what to expect. But after talking to cardiologists and doing some research, we learnt that screening is incredibly important. In Italy, they’ve been doing screenings for over 20 years, and they’ve reduced the death rate by 89%. That gave us confidence that this was the way to go.
"In just two years, we’ve raised nearly 2 million euros and screened over 10,000 people. We originally hoped to screen 5,000, but we reached 10,000—that’s amazing! The awareness we’ve raised has helped thousands of families, and we're blown away by the response."
Irish Post: What are the key aspects you look for when people come forward for screening? Are they volunteering to be screened, or are more people coming forward now because they are concerned?
Dan Quirke: "It’s a mix of both. People are reaching out because they realise they could have a child, niece, or nephew who might have a heart condition. Awareness has been huge, and the media here in Ireland has been a great help in spreading that awareness. Fundraising has been incredible as well—people are doing everything from tractor runs to golf tournaments, and the amounts they raise range from 5,000 to 50,000 euros. It’s really inspiring.
"We offer free screenings, but it costs us 100 euros per young adult to screen, and we focus on kids between the ages of 13 and 18. The screenings have saved lives. Out of the 10,000 screened, 243 have had issues, and some of those have been saved thanks to early detection. It's incredible to see the impact we’ve made in such a short time."
Irish Post: What kind of symptoms do cardiologists look for during the screenings?
Dan Quirke: "There are so many potential issues, and I can’t go into them all, but the amazing thing is that sometimes there are no symptoms at all. Some kids might be perfectly healthy and then, out of nowhere, they collapse. We recently had a kid who was playing sport, got screened, and found out he had a leak in his valve and an enlarged heart. He’s currently waiting for a procedure, but if he hadn’t been screened, it could have been a ticking time bomb. That’s why it's called Sudden Adult Death Syndrome—it can happen suddenly, with no warning signs."
Irish Post:If someone suspects they might have Sudden Adult Death Syndrome, how do they get screened quickly?
Dan Quirke: "The quickest way is to go through the Dillon Quirk Foundation. If you go through your GP, you could be waiting for months—up to 12 months if you don’t have private health insurance. But through our foundation, we can have people seen within seven to ten days, which is a huge reassurance for parents. The foundation originally focused on GAA, but now we’re branching out to other sports like rugby, soccer, basketball, and tennis. Our goal is to make screenings mandatory within three years. We need sporting bodies and the government’s help to make that happen."
The Dillon Quirke Foundation has helped over 10,000 people receive cardiac screening. https://t.co/LSFA7liqI7
— NewstalkFM (@NewstalkFM) December 16, 2024
Irish Post: How can sports communities and groups get more involved?
Dan Quirke: "Absolutely. Now, what we've found is we've joined with the first responders, and they're an amazing group on the ground. They're doing massive work and raising funds to put defibrillators in different clubs and schools. They've been amazing to us because, as I said, they're on the ground, they're seeing it, and they're actually telling us that this is getting worse, not better, which is alarming. But if you look around the country now, I would say very few GAA or soccer clubs would not have defibrillators; they must have them, and that is so important. You can’t use them unless people know what you're using, but that's so important. They need to be checked maybe twice a year to make sure everything is good. But I think the first responders are exceptional; they’re making a huge difference. I'd say they're probably the best organization we've met so far."
Irish Post: What is the long-term vision for the Dillon Quirke Foundation
Dan Quirke: "Well, I think, first, by screening big numbers, you get the stats. And if you want to go to government, you need stats, and you have to have it backed up. So, that’s why screening is so important. I would hope that in a five-year period, I'll be able to screen close to 100,000 young adults. We’d have massive stats, and at that stage, we could go to the government, health insurance companies, or sporting bodies. But the end game here is to make it mandatory. If you're in secondary school, you need to be screened. That would be huge. It would be a great legacy for Dillon and the foundation.
"With the foundation, we’ve got great people involved. Our chairperson is Niall Quinn, and Niall has been amazing. We’ve got people like, Declan Ryan, Joe Brolly, Henry Shefflin—all great people. When you have good people, people with respect in the community, you have a great chance of success."
Irish Post: Yeah. What advice would you give to other families who have experienced similar losses
Dan Quirke: "It is, but I’d honestly say, I would say if they contacted the Dillon Quirke Foundation, we could work on this. Look, we'd love to talk to people who have lost children because I think we can help each other. For us, as a family foundation, all we want to do is help people moving forward. And if you can’t help your friends and neighbors, what’s life about, really? But that’s our goal going forward."
Tipperary , Ireland - 21 May 2023; Limerick captain Declan Hannon makes a presentation of a special training jersey for the Dillon Quirke Foundation to Tipperary captain Noel McGrath (Photo By Brendan Moran/Sportsfile via Getty Images)Irish Post: What do you think Dillon would say about the brilliant work the foundation has done? If he could say something now, what do you think he’d say?
Dan Quirke: "I’d say, first, he'd say to me, "Dad, you’re mad. What are you doing?" But at the same time, he’d have a big smile on his face. He’d be proud of the fact that he's looking down on other kids, and he’s saving lives. It’s just amazing. There’s no greater solace in life than saving people’s lives. That’s what the foundation is doing. And I know the kind of guy he was—he’d be really proud. He’d be asking us to keep going. So, he’s on my shoulder all the time, and he’s telling me to keep going. So we do that for as long as we can."
Irish Post: How do people get in touch with the Dillon Quirke Foundation?
Dan Quirke: "On the website, info.dillonquirkfoundation.com. All the information is there—fundraising, events, screening, everything. We’d ask people to try to help and support us. We’ve got help in the UK, in America, and in Ireland. We need to keep it going. We need to make it a success. I know with the people involved, we’ll make it a success, and we’ll get this to be mandatory in Ireland in the next three to five years."
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