Car crazy Ciaran gets collected from school in his dream motor
By Mary Dennehy
A TALLAGHT eight-year-old was given the surprise of his life on Tuesday when his dream car pulled up outside his school – to collect him.
Living on the Old Bawn Road, Ciaran Kavanagh was diagnosed with a bone disease when he was just four years old and receives ongoing treatment, with 2017 a particularly tough year for the Scoil Santain student.
However, despite the pain and limitations that Ciaran’s condition can cause, the eight-year-old is a very “tolerant and adaptable” little kid – and absolutely car crazy.
Speaking with The Echo, Ciaran’s mam Karen said that her son’s dream, run-a-round car for the routine daily trips, not suitable for his super car is a Toyota C-HR.
“Despite everything Ciaran is a very tolerant and adaptable little kid and I wanted to do something special for him,” Karen said.
“He is mad about cars and knows the spec on all of the sports cars, and his dream run-a-round car when he’s older is a Toyota C-HR.
“A few weeks back I was in the forecourt of the petrol station beside Tadg Riordan Motors on the Tallaght bypass and wondered since they were Toyota dealers if they had a C-HR in stock?”
Karen chanced her arm and in an attempt to do something special for her boy, she called Tadg Riordan to see if they could show Ciaran around one of his favourite cars.
“I don’t have lots of money so I thought I’d chance my arm and I’m so glad that I did.
“The staff in Tadg Riordan were great, they went above and beyond and we can’t thank them enough.”
She added: “The manager Tomás picked me up from my house on Tuesday and we drove to Ciaran’s school to collect him.
“Ciaran had no idea and the smile on his face when he realised he was getting collected in a Toyota C-HR was unbelievable.”
After leaving Scoil Santain, in a brand new C-HR, which was on its maiden voyage, Tadg Riordan manager Tomás Keogh brought Karen and Ciaran on a spin around Bohernabreena, while answering some very well-educated questions from the car crazy eight-year-old.
Tomás, who is a past student of Scoil Santain, told The Echo: “Ciaran was very well clued in and knew quite a lot about the C-HR and other super cars.
“He definitely tested me [with all of his questions] and if he keeps up with his school work, we’d definitely keep him in mind for a future position.”
He added: “These are local people and the school is behind us so, we were happy to collect Ciaran and put a smile on his face.
“It was only something small on our part but Ciaran was chuffed, he was delighted.”
Ciaran also received a special box from Tadg Riordan full of gifts such as Toyota merchandise, model cars, colouring pencils and sweets.
When asked to sum up the day, Karen said: “When we got home I asked Ciaran what he thought about the surprise and he said “awesome”.
“This response and the smile on his face summed it all up for me.”
TAGS Tallaght
