Fantastic friends: Pals of tragic Kilkenny teen raise €20,000 through charity run
A group of young men who tragically lost one of their best friends, a young, talented and popular Kilkenny teen, late last year, have raised almost €20,000 for a mental health charity in his memory .
The 10 students at Carrick-on-Suir’s Edmund Rice Secondary School are taking part in the ‘Run4Rian, where they will run a combined 1,000km over five weeks in an effort to raise funds for Pieta House. The friends hail from counties Kilkenny, Tipperary and Waterford.
Rian Anthony (17) from Piltown passed away tragically last November. His death sent shockwaves through the local community. Rian was a talented and much liked student and friend, renowned for his performances on the hurling and rugby pitch.
Ten of Rian’s friends decided to take up the Run4Rian which began during the midterm break. So far this band of brothers have raised an amazing €20,000 and have only completed their first week.
Among those running include Rian’s brother Darragh and Kilkenny Minor Hurler Braedon Wheeler.
The group has set up a GoFundMe page to accept donations, as well as an Instagram and Facebook page so people can track the young men’s progress.
The response to the group’s heartfelt and brave challenge has been impressive. The 10 friends had hoped to raise €1,000 on their run, but instead have hit €20,000 with just 200km of their run completed.
Taking to the GoFundMe page, the group said: “The money raised will be going to Pieta House. There will be 10 of us, Glen Power, Braedon Wheeler, Kieran Barry, Billy O Callaghan, Conor McGowan, Aidan Friend, Neil Moriarty, Owen Collins, Aidan Walsh and Darragh Anthony, running 1000km in five weeks between us.
“This means a lot to us as a group as we lost one of our close friends to suicide late last year. We would be very appreciative of any donations for this great cause.”
The group has just completed their first 200km with 800km to go to complete their challenge over the next four weeks.
Donations can be made at the GoFundMe page – htps://www.gofundme.com/f/run4rian, 0r you can keep up with the lads progress on their Facebook page – https://www.gofundme.com/f/run4rian or on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/run4rian/.
