{"id":136731,"date":"2025-09-14T12:49:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-14T12:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/136731\/"},"modified":"2025-09-14T12:49:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-14T12:49:10","slug":"i-dont-think-rory-knows-what-that-meant-to-us-co-down-toddler-with-special-connection-to-golf-bumps-into-rory-mcilroy-at-irish-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/136731\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I don\u2019t think Rory knows what that meant to us\u2019 \u2013 Co Down toddler with special connection to golf bumps into Rory McIlroy at Irish Open"},"content":{"rendered":"

The mum of a Co Down toddler<\/a> with a special connection to golf has told of how a chance encounter with Rory McIlroy<\/a> at last week\u2019s Irish Open was more \u201csignificant\u201d to her family than the Holywood golfer could know. <\/p>\n

Three-year-old Alex Chambers was invited to the golf tournament in Co Kildare last week<\/a> after the organisers found out about her golfing fundraiser which she carried out throughout the summer. <\/p>\n

The toddler suffered a brain haemorrhage at the end of 2023 which left her in a coma followed by a three-month stay at the Royal Victoria Hospital for Sick Children (RVHSC). <\/p>\n

Read more: The charity helping to bring joy and support to Belfast children\u2019s hospital and the Little Heroes it cares for<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Jamie<\/a>\"‘I<\/a><\/p>\n

After intense recovery and rehabilitation, the toddler embarked on a challenge to walk five miles last summer in aid of charity Little Heroes<\/a>, which supported her during her time at hospital. <\/p>\n

\"AlexAlex getting some practice in at last week’s Irish Open PICTURE: FACEBOOK\/ALEX AND CREW <\/p>\n

This year she completed a golfing challenge at local Scrabo Golf Club, where she teed off and then walked the length of nine holes.<\/p>\n

When the Irish Open found out about her special fundraiser, they invited her down to The K Club. <\/p>\n

Speaking to The Irish News, Alex\u2019s mum Nadine said that her daughter was now \u201ca big golf fan\u201d and as they were trying to find the kid zone at the event, one of the employees let them pass through the clubhouse \u2013 which led to an eventual meeting with Rory.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just turned and Rory McIlroy was walking towards me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just thought well, what a beautiful coincidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NadineNadine said her daughter told Rory: “I\u2019ve been looking for you!” PICTURE: FACEBOOK\/ALEX AND CREW <\/p>\n

She said Alex had been given a replica of his driver head in the off chance they would meet Rory by someone who used to work at Holywood Golf Club. <\/p>\n

\u201cI explained the story to him and he was happy to sign it,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI had a kind of brief chat with him about what we were trying to do [with the fundraiser]. He was happy to have a chat with Alex and get a photo.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before the meeting, little Alex said they were \u201cgoing to look for Rory\u201d that day.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Rory met her, I said, \u2018Alex, who have you been looking for?\u2019 and she went, \u2018Rory, I\u2019ve been looking for you!\u2019,\u201d Ms Chambers said.<\/p>\n

\"AlexAlex with mum Nadine PICTURE: FACEBOOK\/ALEX AND CREW <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think Rory quite knows what that meeting meant to us and what it meant to Alex. It was a really significant ending to such a good fundraiser.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the young girl was able to raise over \u00a322,000 for Little Heroes through her golf fundraiser and sponsorships from local businesses and community initiatives, her mum said it was so important for her recovery. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe started this fundraiser because I was looking into the health benefits of golf,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt brought up lots of benefits on coordination and balance and strength and the part of Alex\u2019s brain that was damaged after her brain haemorrhage, it was her cerebellum, so she really needs to focus on that. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe first held a golf club in January, but she started the challenge in April. <\/p>\n

\u201cFrom April until now, Alex has learned to stand independently, to walk independently, to toddle about for a minute or two and she can stand on her own and swing a golf club \u2013 which was never on the cards. <\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely not this soon anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

Donations can still be made to Alex\u2019s fundraiser via her JustGiving page<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The mum of a Co Down toddler with a special connection to golf has told of how a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":136732,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[193,2861,41499,5904,63822,2623,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-136731","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-charity","9":"tag-co-down","10":"tag-fundraiser","11":"tag-golf","12":"tag-newtownards","13":"tag-rory-mcilroy","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136731"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136731\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}