A tractor run to raise funds for an Athlone student’s surgery will take place tomorrow, Sunday, January 9, starting at the Church of the Risen Christ, Kiltoom, Co. Roscommon.
Conor Burke, from Bealnamulla, Athlone, is the eldest of four boys. He is a 4th year student at Technological University Dublin (TUD) studying international business and languages. His final year is online due to his illness.
As a child, Conor’s dream was to travel. However, a diagnosis of Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS), a group of hereditary disorders of connective tissue that are varied in the ways they affect the body, has robbed him of living his life to the fullest and doing things most of us take for granted.
Conor has gone from being a fit and healthy 22-year-old to needing an ileostomy, self-catheterisation, having Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (P0TS) and being a full-time power chair user. He needs to wear a neck brace to keep his head up.
Conor also has craniocervical instability, atlantoxial instability and brainstem compression. Surgery is required to stop progression and save his life. The surgery is said to be only available in Barcelona and is extremely expensive.
Gannon Agri Contractors is organising the tractor run to raise funds for Conor’s surgery. Registration for the tractor run will be from 1:00p.m sharp and roll out will be at 2:00p.m sharp.
Entry will cost €20/tractor with 100% of the proceeds going towards Conor’s Journey fund.
After leaving Ballybay church, the participants will go through Barrymore, the N6 bypass, Monksland, Bealnamulla, Curraghboy, finishing back at Ballybay Church.
Every tractor will get a sticker to certify attendance. Drone footage and images will be taken of the run and shared to social media afterwards.
There will be stewards collecting money, directing the tractors and managing traffic at every junction on the run. Strict Covid-19 rules will also apply.