Challenge coin dedicated to firefighter Adrian O’Grady
By Hayden Moore
A CHALLENGE coin has been created to raise funds for a charity near and dear to the heart of the late firefighter, Adrian O’Grady.
Members of Dublin Fire Brigade have forged a coin dedicated to the memory of station officer for Tallaght Fire Station, O’Grady, in aid of Down Syndrome Carlow.
Firefighters Darren Donovan, Brian Doyle and Derek Riordan with Helen O’Grady outside Tallaght Fire Station at the launch on Tuesday
O’Grady, who was a popular firefighter and coordinator of the Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) team, a crisis intervention and counselling service for colleagues, died suddenly at the age of 47.
“The challenge coin is dedicated to Adrian O’Grady, who was a station officer, a great friend and colleague,” Tallaght firefighter Derek Riordan, who is coordinating the fundraiser alongside Darren Donavon, Podge Thompson and Brian Doyle, told The Echo.
“It’s a tribute to CISM and the team there because they go above and beyond to promote the mental health and wellbeing of all our colleagues.
“And the money raised will go to Down Syndrome Carlow, a place that would have been very close to Ado’s heart.”
Adrian, nicknamed Ado, has been described as a “very special and infectious person” who went above and beyond for his colleagues, family, and friends.
Adrian with his nephew Daniel
The Lucan resident played gaelic football with St Anne’s GAA Club and would cycle to work in Tallaght every day.
Adrian’s wife Helen is a Belgard native, and the couple were in the process of purchasing a home in Lucan at the time of his death.
Helen’s nephew Daniel was born with Down Syndrome and since his “late-diagnoses”, the family have been supported by Down Syndrome Carlow to a great extent.
Adrian had an immediate affinity to Daniel, and he wanted to help his nephew as much as possible throughout his life.
“Adrian was a big, big man and Daniel was so small before Adrian died,” Helen tells The Echo.
“But he’d walk in and just throw Daniel up into his arms.
“Myself and Adrian were at our son’s rugby match one day and he turned around to me and said that when Daniel gets a bit older, he’s going to enrol him in tag rugby and all of these extra-curricular activities.
“He was saying that he’ll drive down to Carlow to pick him up and bring him back to Dublin for all his activities.
“It’s so unfortunate that Adrian died when he did because he never got to fulfil all the plans he had to help Daniel in his later life.”
She added: “When the lads in the fire brigade called and said that the money was going to go to Down Syndrome Carlow, it was just fantastic.
“That’s Adrian doing something for Daniel now.”
At the time of Daniel’s Down Syndrome diagnoses, his family were unsure what supports they would receive.
But thankfully, thanks to Down Syndrome Carlow, his mother and father have been able to afford Daniel the support he requires.
Since Adrian’s death in October 2018, Dublin Fire Brigade have wrapped around his widowed wife Helen and their three children in creating a support network.
“I would be lost without Dublin Fire Brigade,” says Helen.
“I wasn’t too sure what it meant before Adrian died but I have fully felt what it means with the fire brigade being a family.
“I lost my husband, but it feels like I’ve gained a hundred since.
“When Adrian died it was sudden and I had to wait six-months for his death certificate.
“I wasn’t too sure about the day it arrived, was if it wasn’t the case that it was sudden?
“It arrived and I called one of Adrian’s friends who is in the fire brigade and he was here in five minutes.
“He sat down, opened the letter and read it with me… the support network they have formed has been phenomenal.”
Adrian died of a condition called sudden cardiomyopathy, and he is survived by his wife Helen and three children.
“I had to say to our children that they have all of these memories with their dad,” Helen recalls.
“He did shift work, but they went on all of these trips to the park or to the zoo, he was such a hands-on dad and they can hold on to all those wonderful memories.”
Due to Covid-19, Dublin Fire Brigade has been unable to raise money for charities over the past year.
Derek says: “Usually we’d be out banging buckets fundraising, like we have for Aoibheann’s Pink Tie or the Gavin Glynn Foundation in the past.
“It felt like now was the right time to do something because we had the right idea.
“So, we approached Adrian’s wife Helen and asked if she and the family wanted to pick a charity of choice – and she came back with Down Syndrome Carlow.
“Ado absolutely loved Daniel; he idolised the ground that he walked on.”
All proceeds raised through the sale of the charity challenge coin will go directly to Down Syndrome Ireland.
To purchase a coin, email: derek.riordan1045@gmail.com
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