Davy McIlwrath is an East Belfast man living in Carrickfergus. The former Lisnasharragh High School pupil is football mad with Glentoran, Leeds Utd and Northern Ireland being his teams.
Last October Davy took ill and by early this year was on life support in the Royal Victoria Hospital. His friends were devastated but a few of them made him a promise. If the Glens made it to the Irish Cup final and Davy was still alive they would all go to the match. No big deal you may think, except that one of them, Paul Milligan, is a Crusaders season ticket holder. Jackie Moore is a fellow Glenman but Michael Bunting supports Linfield.
On Saturday 4th May the four friends caught the train from Carrick to Belfast and Davy got to see his beloved Glentoran lift the Irish Cup. He was elated; so much so that he wanted to stay and soak up every minute of the Windsor Park atmosphere. "Just one more minute guys!" Well that one more minute meant they missed their train and had to hang around for half an hour for the next one. Whilst football rivalry is a big thing with this group of mates, friendship is more important.
Davy is making slow but steady progress and we hope to see him at many more matches in the future.