Fundraiser in Vancouver for Irish man injured at Whistler
 KEITH O’Connor is shown above with his partner Michelle Earley. The couple arrived in Canada last November.
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VANCOUVER – Keith O’Connor arrived in Canada last November with his long term partner, Michelle Earley, to make the beautiful city of Vancouver their permanent home.
Keith is a native of Waterford, Ireland. He was a prominent player for his local hurling club, Mount Sion, and also played on both the county minor and Under 21 teams.
On the final weekend of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, Keith was snowboarding on Blackcomb Mountain in Whistler. On his way down the slope, he hit some avalanche debris that was covered under the snow and was ragdolled down the hill.
Keith broke his back at the T4 level, completely severed his spinal cord, broke both his shoulder blades and perforated his lung with broken ribs. He was airlifted to Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) where he underwent lengthy spinal surgery.
At VGH, Keith was under the care of one of Canada’s best spinal surgeons, Dr. Marcel Dvorak. Tragically, due to the extent of his catastrophic injuries, Keith awoke to find he was paralysed from the chest down, a condition to which he is still coming to terms with at this time.
On March 18, when his lung was deemed to have recovered sufficiently to fly, Keith travelled from Vancouver to Ireland.
He spent approximately one week in the Mater Public Hospital, Dublin, Ireland before being transferred to the National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) in Dun Laoghaire, Dublin, Ireland on March 26.
Keith’s operation and time at VGH, together with his flight home to Ireland was covered by his travel insurance, however, those funds are now exhausted.
It is Keith’s wish to rehabilitate to the point where he can live his life with a degree of independence and return to pursue his career in software testing.
In an effort to raise money for Keith’s rehab, equipment and home renovations, friends of Keith held a “Fundraiser Night for Keith O’Connor” on April 23 at Scribes Rugby Football Club.
For more information or to contribute to the fund, contact Eucharia Commins at euchariacommins@gmail.com, or call at (778) 223-3231. If you couldn’t make the event, you can also still make a donation via: www.helpkeith.com.
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