Friends rally to raise funds for John’s care

FRIENDS and neighbours of an Irishman who was assaulted outside a bar in America are raising the $11,000-a-day care he needs after his insurance ran out last week.

John Brennan, 20, is recovering in Yale New Haven Hospital in Connecticut after being assaulted while waiting for a taxi outside an Irish bar last week.

Hospital care for Mr Brennan, from Clara in Kilkenny, could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. But family and friends have clubbed together to organise fundraising events to help meet the mounting bills as he remains in intensive care.

Travel insurance and VHI had covered the young man to the tune of $65,000, but that cover ran out last Wednesday.

Police in the US have yet to arrest anyone in connection with the assault. Spokesman Gary L Jenkins said yesterday it was too early to say if an arrest will follow.

Mr Brennan regained consciousness over the weekend and doctors hope to operate soon to replace a bone removed from his skull to relieve pressure on his brain.

“It was amazing to hear him speak on Saturday. We couldn’t believe it,” Mr Brennan’s brother, Padraig, 26, said from the US yesterday.

“He’s made great progress since then. They were hoping to operate today but they’ve put that off now for a few days.”

Over the October Bank Holiday weekend, neighbours in Kilkenny hope to organise a sponsored horse ride over the Brennan family farm in Clara and Castlewarren, on the Dublin side of Kilkenny.

A two-day golf tournament is also planned at nearby Gowran Golf Club on October 27 and 28.

Mr Brennan’s mother and father, Mai and Tommy, his two sisters, Marian and Elaine, and his brother Padraig remain at his bedside at the hospital.

Mr Brennan, who went to arrived in America on August 25 to work as an apprentice carpenter, was taken off a respirator and spoke his first words on Saturday.

“The family are a bit on a high but have been warned by the doctors to be very careful,” said Mr Brennan’s cousin, Matty Byrne.

“Nobody really knows the extent of the damage to his brain. And they won’t know that extent until down the line until they do tests after a few operations in the next few weeks.”

Donations can be made to account number 36701037 (sort code 933422).