Trillick family raise £18,000 in memory of baby Frankie

A family living in Trillick has raised a remarkable £18,000 to the Bereavement Suite project at the South West Acute Hospital, Enniskillen and Belfast Royal Victoria hospital.

The couple raised money by getting people across Fermanagh and Tyrone to join them in taking part in numerous fitness challenges over a month-long period in August.

Shane and Sinead Goan who are originally from Irvinestown, suffered a terrible loss as their baby Frankie passed away in August of 2019.

During the month of August 2020, exactly one year since Frankie’s passing the couple decided to raise money for two hospitals that did so much for them. Shane decided he would raise money by doing 58 press-ups and Sinead opted to run three miles every day, the target number very special to the Goan family. They were joined in with by people from across Tyrone and Fermanagh raising a remarkable £18,000

Reflecting back on the campaign now, Sinead admitted it was very humbling to see the reaction that they received from the people who took part in the challenge and she cannot thank them enough for buying into this initiative to keep Frankie’s memory alive.

She told the Tyrone Herald, “We honestly would never have dreamt of the amount of support that we got and the amount of money raised. From day one the support was just fantastic.

“We were completely overwhelmed with the amount of money raised, and it will be a great help to so many families, we will be forever grateful for the support we received in memory of Frankie.”

This week in a cheque handing over ceremony at the Bereavement Suite project at the South West Acute Hospital, Enniskillen, the Western Trust described the money they received some £12,000 as remarkable.

Accepting this incredible donation on behalf of the Western Trust Maternity Unit at the South West Acute Hospital, Brenda McCabe, Lead Midwife said, “The Goan family take great comfort knowing that baby Frankie’s legacy will be forever remembered in contributing to the development of the Bereavement Suite at the hospital. For families like them, who may sadly have to avail of such facilities should take pride that the love and memory of their beautiful son and brother Frankie will benefit many families in the years to come.”