Hi all,

Just to give everyone an update on Andrew’s progress, the news from Gran Canaria is very good. Day by day he is improving and his strength is growing. For the first few weeks out of hospital Andrew was convalescing in a small ground floor apartment near the beach, owned by Maria’s family. Every day he would walk further and further on the beach and later he began to take those walks in the sea, walking the length of the beach up to his waist. Up to September he continued to have weekly hospital visits. In conjunction with the hospital physio and a private rehab specialist, he has been working hard to open up his chest as the ribs slowly heal, as well as strengthening the shoulders which were badly damaged. He now reports very little pain and has recently moved back to his own third floor apartment now that he can manage the stairs. It’s pretty impressive to see how Andrew has approached his recovery. His day is broken up into structured blocks of meditation, breathing, food preparation, exercise, stretching and rehab work.

Three weeks ago Andrew found out about this campaign. He had been worried about money and expenses and Maria finally told him. Needless to say, initially he was quite mortified and I was sent a few choice words! However, he came round very quickly as he read the comments, and having had a few weeks to digest the generosity and people’s genuine concern for his wellbeing, he has asked me to include these few words in what will be the last update.

''Hello, Andrew here.

Thank you...every one of you. From the first hours of regaining consciousness after the accident, I have known with unflinching certainty that one of the reasons I pulled through and was able to begin healing so quick, was because of the energy I was receiving from people all over the world.

Benny Taaffe, my brother and best friend, created a medium for healing and help here, and myself, Maria and our two children, Danam and Jane, will be forever grateful for all your help and inspiring messages.

I didn't know about the campaign until two weeks ago. This is a message of love and appreciation that should have gone out well before now. You read and hear about amazing responses from people all the time, and this continually strengthens our faith in the power of the human body. Every night I give thanks to many in my prayers, including everyone of you here, and to everyone who has simply thought of me in a positive light and who have sent their feelings and healing energy from their hearts. You are and will forever be part of the reason I celebrate life even more than before, and a driving force to be a better father, partner and contributor to continuing healing on this beautiful earth of ours.

Saying thank you here is just a start. I know I will reignite old friendships, begin new friendships, and hopefully begin a correspondence with some of you via email, post and in person, to be able to share our experiences of living and hurting and believing and being on this great journey together here.

Love and light to all of you and your families.''

The initial target figure for this campaign was a guestimate reached while Andrew was still in a coma and the medical team had no real idea as to how long he would be completely out of action. The surgeon had suggested it would be a minimum of 8 months to a year before he would be able to work, if indeed it would happen at all. But Andy’s progress has astonished everyone and is a testament to his determination and focus. He is now hopeful that he might be able to return to work before Christmas. He and Maria feel that what the campaign has raised to date is sufficient to cover their expenses and the rehab costs. Initially this was an open-ended campaign but I will now schedule it to close next Monday, 17^th September. Thank you all so much, the response has been phenomenal from the athletics community of Ireland as well as from his larger circle of friends and family. You have made a huge difference to the stress levels, particularly for Maria in this very difficult time. I am so happy that this is a good news story and may we have many more years of Andrew’s sometimes annoyingly positive attitude to inspire us.