Ray thanks people of Bantry for their unwavering support

RAY Murnane of Bantry has posted a video online expressing how an entire community has supported him and his family – not just in terms of his recovery but also in how he will now live his life.

‘It is a big thing to feel this kind of support in your home town,’ said Ray Murnane, who returned home to Letterlickey in Bantry last week after a three-month programme at the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dun Laoghaire.

In September 2015, the life of this 45-year old man changed dramatically when he was involved in a motorbike accident while travelling from his home to UCC where he was attending the second week of his Master’s Degree course in Social Science.

The impact caused a serious spinal injury, trauma to his chest and lungs, and also extensive facial injuries, but as he says in the video that can be seen on The Southern Star Facebook page he is doing well and is very appreciative of all the help and support he is receiving. ‘It is hard to believe that it has been over six months since the accident. Rehabilitation is going well. I am ahead of targets and I am really pleased with what is happening,’ said Ray, who is to have special spring-loaded splints fitted so he will be able to take some steps in his newly modified home. 

‘Thank you,’ he said, for organising – and attending – the fundraisers that were held by the Ray Murnane Rehabilitation Fund. Thank you, too, to everyone who supported his wife, Dee, and their two girls, Katie-Marie and Hannah.

Ray said he is looking forward to learning to walk with the special splints saying: ‘twenty years ago this would not have been possible.’

All of the fundraising that has taken place to date means Ray can ‘live at ease in Letterlickey’ because he can now get through the doors, roll into his shower, and change his clothes without having to reach up.

These modifications, plus more to come, means a lot to Ray.