Terminally ill teen donates €15k injury award to sister’s education

Gravely ill teenager Donal Walsh has donated a €15,000 personal injury award to aid his elder sister’s education.

The settlement for the 16-year-old cancer sufferer was approved at the Circuit Court in Killarney yesterday after he was knocked off his bicycle by a car in September. Barrister Katie O’Connell told Judge Pauline Codd that Donal, from Hare St, Blennerville, Tralee, Co Kerry, “doesn’t have a lot of time left”.

Ms O’Connell said it was Donal’s request to put the money, in its entirety, into an account for his sister Jema’s education.

“That’s what Donal wants,” she said. “He wants it to go to her education in the future.”

Having battled cancer three times in four years, the schoolboy recently made an impassioned plea to any peers contemplating suicide.

“As a 16-year-old who has no say in his death sentence, who has no choice in the pain he is about to cause, and who would take any chance at even a few more months on this planet; appreciate what you have, know that there are always other options and help is always there,” said Donal.

His anti-suicide message has been recorded by health professionals in an effort to deter young people from taking their own lives.

Donal was not in court yesterday but Judge Codd told his father, Fionnbar: “I wish Donal all the best. He is a beacon of light.”

The settlement came from a Personal Injuries Accident Board report following an incident at Milltown, Co Kerry, last year. The action against the driver of a car and another named person had been brought to the injuries’ board on Donal’s behalf by his father.

Ms O’Connell said a car coming from a minor roadway collided with Donal, who was taken to A&E at Kerry General Hospital, where X rays showed soft tissue injury.

Following the accident, Donal found it difficult to lift and to carry things.

“For one month there was significant discomfort,” Ms O’Connell said. “Donal’s life is valuable. A month to him is a long time.”

Judge Codd approved an order for €15,454.99, comprising €15,000 general damages for pain and suffering and special damages for the cost of the two-month-old bicycle, of over €400.