A campaign set up in the wake of Tipperary's Dillon Quirke's death has claimed that over 7,000 people have been screened for heart conditions since his passing in 2022.
Dillon Quirke was a talented hurler for Tipperary, but he sadly passed away from SADS (Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndrome).
The Dillon Quirke Foundation was then established in memory of the Tipperary hurler, aiming to raise awareness and reduce the number of young people who die from SADS.
An update from their GoFundMe this week states that they have managed to test over 7,037 people since Dillon's death:
"This weekend, our family will mark Dillon’s second anniversary. I wanted to let you know how much your support has meant to us and how big an impact the Foundation is already having, thanks to you!
"At the beginning of 2024, the Dillon Quirke Foundation set the ambitious target of screening at least 10,000 young people this year. As of today, we are delighted to have screened 7,037 and counting! We know these screenings are helping to save lives.
"We have also expanded to cover all 26 counties and built on our roots in the GAA community to include other sports such as soccer, rugby, boxing, and even performing arts!
"Our whole purpose as a foundation is to reduce the number of young people dying from SADS."
Two years after Tipperary hurler Dillon Quirke died from Sudden Adult Death Syndrome, a foundation set up in his memory has provided cardiac screenings to 7,000 young people across 26 countieshttps://t.co/zYDwGfMRrB
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) August 6, 2024
Dan Quirke, Dillon's father and founder of the Foundation, also spoke to RTÉ during the week and thanked people for paying tribute to Dillon since his passing.
"It is a tremendous tribute to Dillon. We started out in December 2022, and our ambition was to get 5,000 people screened in the first year, but that has reached over 7,000 now, and we think we will hit 10,000 before the year is out," he said on RTÉ's Morning Ireland this week.
Mr. Quirke also added that it wasn't just the GAA that had jumped to the cause:
"We started probably as a GAA foundation, but now we have got rugby, soccer, basketball, horse racing—you name it, they are all involved now, and it is tremendous.
"It is great for us that we know Dillon is making a big difference in other children's lives," he said.
