Dia dhaoibh a chairde,

This April, along with over 35 other friends of Pádraig, I'll be taking part in a swimming fundraiser around the country for 48 hours. The goal is to swim off the coast of every county in Ireland that has a coast (17 in total) in the space of two days. It's a big ask and we'lll be leaving Dublin at 6am on Saturday morning going north. Hopefully by late Sunday night we'll find ourselves at our last stop in Bray, Co. Wicklow, having circled the entire coast, swimming in each coastal county on the way.

We're raising money for our friend Pádraig Schaler, who, as you may know, has been in a coma since being knocked off his bicycle in June 2013 in Cape Cod. He is currently receiving care in Hamburg, Germany, following the inability of our own health service to deal adequately with his brain injury. There is great cost involved in making sure Pádraig continues to receive the best care he can get. The air ambulance to Germany alone cost €12,000 - paid by his family. Therefore any donation you can give, big or small, will be greatly appreciated.

De réir dealramh, tá an t-uisce fíor-fhuar ag an am seo den bhliain i ndiaidh gheimhreadh fada. Le cúnamh Dé ní bheimid reoite go hiomlán agus beidh mórán craic againn agus an aistear ar bun. Tá íos-sprioc de €250 mar aidhm agam ach aon rud thar sin níos fearr fós. Is mór an cabhair é aon airgead gur féidir leat spáráil chun cabhrú le cúram leigheas den scoth a fháil do Phádraig.

Go raibh míle maith agaibh,

Oisín

Link to the route we'll be taking:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153855335340371&set=gm.221584598032270&type=1

UPDATE:

thanks for all the donations so far. For those of you who haven't seen these before, here's two important links to be aware of:

1. www.hospi-tales.com - Pádraig's dad, Reinhard, writes a really insightful daily blog from Hamburg updating all on how Pádraig is getting on and on everything they are going through, including Reinhard and Patricia's efforts to draw media attention to the desperate condition of rehabilitation care in Ireland, and the 6.5 million J1 insurance company that refused to pay out. A wonderfully-written blog.

2. www.caringforpadraig.org - a website that is the home of the efforts to raise funds to ensure Pádraig gets the best care. Also has a lot of information on what happened to Pádraig and all events, past and present, that are taking place to support him.