Two members of the Galway senior ladies football team rushed to the aid of a motorcyclist seriously injured in an accident as the squad made their way to their All-Ireland semi-final clash against Kerry in Birr last Saturday evening.

The two players, both members of the medical profession, attended to the injured man for a considerable period of time as they waited for emergency services to arrive. Unfortunately, the injured motor cyclist subsequently lost his battle for life two days later.

Galway ladies footballers Lorna Joyce (Clonbur) and Geraldine Conneely (Dunmore) – a doctor and nurse respectively – had been travelling on the team bus when they came upon the upsetting scene at Ballaghanoher on the Birr to Banagher Road at around 2:30pm.

The motorcyclist, who was in his 30s, had been in collision with a vehicle travelling ahead of the team coach, which, coincidentally, was a Galway supporters bus carrying young fans to the Tribeswomen’s All-Ireland semi-final against Kerry.

“It (the supporters’ bus) was carrying girls who were also going to the match,” recalls Geraldine Conneely, a nurse in the Regional Hospital in Galway. “One of the ladies came running back and she told us there had been an accident and a motorcyclist had been hurt. There was pandemonium.

“We went down [to the accident]. There was nobody else around – we were the first on the scene – so we waited with him until the Gardaí and ambulance arrived. We tried to help him, but we could only do so much. He was still alive when we left and he only died on Monday evening. He was in an intensive care unit in [Midland Regional Hospital] Tullamore.”

Although nobody else was injured in the collision, the tragedy, understandably, caused upset among the players and supporters alike. “I suppose it had an effect on all the girls because we were one of the first vehicles on the scene. It was not the nicest thing.”

See full story in this week's Connacht Tribune.