THE family of a University of Limerick lecturer and sports pundit who died of a suspected heart attack while swimming in Kilkee last summer are now raising funds to provide defibrillators in the popular seaside resort in his memory.
71-year-old David Weldrick died after a tragic drowning accident shortly after 11am on August 17, 2019.
The popular father-of-three from Monaleen was a long-serving Physical Education lecturer at UL, which he taught for decades, as well as being the coach for Limerick’s first and only All-Ireland senior Gaelic football club title in 1978.
Heartbroken son of the former ‘Sunday Game’ pundit, Breean Weldrick has now started a GoFundMe campaign in the hope of purchasing heart defibrillators for Kilkee, where his dad died suddenly last year.
“It is thought our dad got into difficulty after having a suspected heart attack. He was an extremely fit man and strong swimmer. If there was a defibrillator closer he could have survived. There was a defib at the lifeguards hut on the opposite side of Kilkee but it was not close enough,” Breean told the Limerick Post.
“Our goal for the GoFundMe page is to raise funds for at least one, but hopefully two heart defibrillators for Kilkee to help give suspected heart attack victims a fighting chance of surviving, which sadly our dad didn’t.
“It has sent shock waves through our family and I know the sporting community of Limerick losing our kind and generous dad. It is a pain that is truly unimaginable until it happens to your own family.
“We hope that some good can come from this tragic event and help place lifesaving equipment in Kilkee. Any donations no matter how small will go towards saving someone’s life and preventing the loss our family feels at losing our father,” she concluded.
To donate to the ‘Defib for Dave’ campaign visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/defib-for-dave.
