A fundraiser by a Carndonagh man has helped to raise over €12,000 for three medical facilities in which he received care after suffering a traumatic brain injury last year.
Cathal Porter sustained the injury last August and spent almost five months receiving care at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin, Letterkenny University Hospital and the rehab unit at St Conal’s Hospital in Letterkenny.
A total of €12,200 was raised following a coffee morning and raffle which were held in July. A sum of €5,050 was presented to the National Nuroscience Centre, €4,500 to surgical 2 in LUH and €2,650 given to the stroke and medical rehabilitation unit.
“This is a drop in the ocean compared to what the hospitals deserve,” Cathal says. “Everyone knows that our hospitals, especially our local hospitals, deserve as much help and support as we can give them.”
Cathal was put into an induced coma when he was taken to Beaumont Hospital after he suffered the injury in an incident close to his home on August 23, 2025.
He was brought back to surgical 2 in Letterkenny University Hospital before going under the care of the rehabilitation unit on the St Conal’s campus.
He says: “The staff I met couldn’t have done any more for me in every way possible. When I would thank them, they would almost look at me as if I had 10 heads; they simply just said that it was their jobs.”
His mother came up with the idea of a coffee morning and it proved a huge success.
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Cathal says: “I wanted to give as much back to the hospitals. I was gobsmacked with the generosity of people. I really just want to thank the general people and for them to know how generous they were.”
Cathal was initially taken to hospital on August 23 and was discharged on February 11.
He says he is “blessed” to be able to return to work at Finn Valley College in Stranorlar and to be back at home with his family.
“A lot of people aren’t as lucky,” he says. “I really want to thank the public again for supporting the fundraiser and for them to see where their donations have gone. I also want to thank the hospitals for their amazing work. I wanted to give as much back to them as possible, they looked after me so well.”