SEAN DRUMMOND “HAD it all going for him”, as close friend Conor Mullally explains.
A talented Gaelic footballer and hurler who had represented Dublin at underage level, ‘Drummo’ was studying a Masters degree in Artificial Intelligence at Imperial College London when his life was turned upside down on 23 March 2019.
Having just finished his exams, Sean suffered horrific head injuries during a traffic accident in London. He spent three months in a coma and two years of rehabilitation in two hospitals then followed. While his mother Jenny relocated to London to be at his bedside 24/7, the rest of the family and his friends flew back and forth on weekends.
There was hugely positive news in June 2021, when Sean moved to the National Rehab Hospital (NRH) in Dun Laoghaire and, on 4 March of this year, he was discharged and finally taken home.
Improvements have been encouraging. The 27-year-old is working hard on slowly regaining some of his speech and can walk short distances with the help of a frame, although a wheelchair is often needed.
But it’s a long and expensive road ahead. Sean still requires full-time care and the Drummond family are expecting to spend a minimum of €40,000 – €50,000 per year over the next three years on physio, speech and language, and various other specialist therapies.
There has already been incredible support shown by the wider community to raise funds through the Support4Drummo GoFundMe page, while former Cuala team-mates including Dublin star Con O’Callaghan have helped to spread the word and he even auctioned his 2019 All-Ireland final jersey.
The Support4Drummo logo has replaced AIG on the front of Dublin’s jerseys for four major matches: Dublin’s defeat to Galway in the Leinster senior hurling championship last weekend, as well as Dublin v Tipperary (camogie) and the Leinster football final double-header of Dublin v Kildare (men’s) and Dublin v Meath (women’s), all scheduled for this Saturday.
AIG have also produced a new seven-minute video telling Sean’s story.
“We are all so proud of what Sean has achieved over the last three years, but there is still a long road ahead for him to reach his full potential,” says Sean’s father, Tommy.
Sean requires a range of cognitive, physical and speech therapies to help him live his best life. With this in mind, we remain grateful for any further support and we are delighted that AIG have made this generous gesture to put Support4Drummo on the front of Dublin jerseys.”
Aidan Connaughton, general manager of AIG Ireland adds: “AIG is proud to be able to lend our support to such a worthy cause as Support4Drummo. Sean has shown tremendous resilience so far in his recovery and the ongoing fundraising efforts will ensure that he continues on that road to recovery.
“We are really looking forward to seeing the Support4Drummo logo on Dublin jerseys this month and help drive awareness and much needed fundraising for the campaign.
“AIG is deeply rooted in the communities where our customers and colleagues live and our involvement with Support4Drummo reflects our continued commitment to those communities.”
To make a donation to The Sean Drummond Trust and to help Sean regain as much independence as possible, visit the Support4Drummo GoFundMe page.
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