Two separate Go Fund Me pages have been set up to help two self-employed racing partners who suffered life-changing injuries in a devastating accident.
The close-knit motorcycling community are rallying around to help popular pals Philip McNally and Hugh Smith who remain in Dublin’s Mater Hospital with spinal injuries.
Hugh has been paralysed from the waist down while doctors have not yet confirmed the extent of Philip’s spinal injuries as he is also battling other trauma injuries to his chest.
Friends hope to raise a combined total of €400,000 through the Go Fund Me pages to help defray medical costs and long term financial burdens.
Philip, 36, from Trim, Co Meath and Hugh, 34, from Tallaght in Dublin, were taking part in race qualifiers for the motorcycle sidecar event in Mondello Park in Co Kildare on April 6 last when the accident occurred.
It’s understood both men had made the fastest lap at the time of the tragedy. There were a total of 17 cars racing separately in time trials.
Philip is a self-employed panel beater and mechanic while Hugh owns his own business as a tree surgeon.
Hugh is a dad of two with a third baby on the way in the coming weeks while Philip got engaged in recent months.
Friends say they face a long-road ahead of them, needing eventual treatment in the National Rehabilitation Centre in Dublin.
According to their Go Fund Me pages, as it was a motor sport accident, there is no insurance to cover what has happened.
“No pay out, no income protection, no mortgage protection, no medical insurance and no lump sum of any kind to help the family,” it says.
“We are reaching out to all who knows Philip and Hugh in both their local and racing communities to help out as there will be many costs to help out with, be it medical, loss of income and house adaptation.”
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