An Irish family has raised \u20ac25,000 for The Mercy Foundation to support heart research and genetic testing in Cork following the death of their daughter, Zara Harding Horan.<\/p>\n
Ms Harding-Horan’s family, from Roscrea in Co Tipperary, together with their local community, raised the funds through five fundraising events last year to honour the fifth anniversary of the 19-year-old’s passing.<\/p>\n
Events included a charity walk at Cloughjordan National School, a guided tour of Monastic Lorrha, led by historian James Heenan, a coffee morning at the Derg Inn, a bucket collection in Nenagh, and a larger sponsored walk from University Limerick to Thomond Park.<\/p>\n
Ms Harding-Horan died in 2020 as a result of Loeys-Dietz syndrome (LDS), which is a rare genetic condition affecting connective tissue causing aortic aneurysms.<\/p>\n
She was a first-year bachelor of arts student in performing arts at the University of Limerick, and is described by her family as having a gift for music and a passion for rugby.<\/p>\n
To honour the special place that rugby held in her life, \u20ac5,000 was donated to support the Zara Horan Trophy, a regional U18.5 competition aimed at fostering the growth of women\u2019s rugby development pathways.<\/p>\n
Alison Harding, Zara\u2019s mother, said she was \u201ca funny, outgoing, and happy young woman who was taken way too young\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe fitted so much into her short time here, living life to the full, giving to others, raising money for charity, and always putting others first,\u201d said Ms Harding.<\/p>\n
\u201cThough Zara\u2019s life was cut tragically short, her spirit lives on in the joy she gave, the lives she touched, and the future she helps shape through these fundraising efforts.\u201d\u00a0\n <\/p>\n
Rachel Stevenson, CEO of the Mercy Foundation said \u201cevery donation and act of fundraising plays a vital role in supporting patients and their families at Mercy University Hospital\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe generosity shown in Zara\u2019s memory helps fund crucial research, essential testing, and improved care, making a meaningful difference in people\u2019s lives when they need it most,\u201d said Ms Stevenson.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An Irish family has raised \u20ac25,000 for The Mercy Foundation to support heart research and genetic testing in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":333903,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[79,61,60,83335,80],"class_list":["post-333902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-cork-news","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-mercy-university-hospital","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=333902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333902\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/333903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=333902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=333902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=333902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}