The family of a young Monaghan man, Johnny Mulligan, are raising funds to get him home after a near-death experience involving a quad bike on last April.

Before his accident, Johnny was working as a civil engineer and for BM Transport in Monaghan while farming at home on his family dairy and poultry farm at the weekends also.

While going to move some fencing for cattle about half a mile away from his home house, Johnny was involved in a quad accident.

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, his sister Claire said: “The quad overturned and he fell off and hit his head on the side of the road, then the quad and the trailer fell on top of him.

“Only for our neighbours came running out when they heard the bang, they lifted the quad off of him and rang an ambulance."

She continued: “The emergency service arrived and the forensics came out as they didn’t think Jonathan was going to survive. The air ambulance was called and it was the cancelled as they didn’t think he was going to make it.

“In turn he then made it to Cavan Hospital where they prepped him for Dublin. The surgeon in Dublin didn’t think he would have made it to Dublin alive, and even if he did he would be brain dead.”

Quad accident survivor Johnny Mulligan

“But, typical Johnny and his fighting spirit, he turned around and made it to Dublin. He got an operation at 4.30pm that day, the accident happened at 11.30am, we were brought into a relatives room and the surgeon said to us that he was stunned he made it this far and that he survived the whack he got as it was one of the worst ones he had seen.”

A fighter

After Johnathan had spent several weeks in an induced coma, the Mulligan family got the phonecall they had anticipated.

“One evening Mammy and Daddy were down in the calf shed feeding calves and we got a call from the doctors telling us that Johnny had spoken.

“The following day we got to Facetime him. Even when he was in a coma we knew he could hear us. The first time we spoke to him we asked him how he was keeping and his reply was ’ach, not too bad’,” his sister recalled.

Johnny has made an unexpected recovery and is now in Monaghan Rehabilitation Centre where he is making further progress.

Unfortunately for the Mulligan family, their house does not meet the living requirements needed for Johnny when the time comes for him to return home.

“We got contractors to come out and look at the house and we were getting quoted between €90,000 and €100,000 for an extension. We didn’t know how we were going to afford it and if we couldn’t afford it, then he would have to go into a home. As a family we didn’t want that as he is too young,” Claire said.

Make a donation

Donations can be made through a GoFundMe page called 'Get Johnny Mulligan Home' or by clicking here.

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