Strabane teens take to the skies in memory of ‘great family man’

A TYRONE teenager is taking to the skies along with three of his closest friends in memory of his much-loved dad, who died from cancer last October.

Dara Langan, from Strabane, has signed up for a charity skydive this June along with Rian Coyle, Hayden Snodgrass and Rian Patton. They are all aged between 15 to 16.

It is being organised as a tribute to Dara’s father, Barry Langan. The quartet have already raised more than £3,000 through a GoFundMe page.

Dara told the Tyrone Herald that his dad was a great family man who loved him and his siblings.

Dara said, “He would have moved heaven and earth for us all. He was always there for me, Sarah and Fionn.

“I know that he will be remembered as a good man. He was well-known and well-liked. I have heard lots of stories about him and they all talk about his kindness, humour and his love for his family.”

Dara added, “There are so many things that I could say about him but will always remember him as one of my best friends. Even when he was spending long times in hospital battling his illness, he would phone each day to ask how everything went and to talk about the latest football and GAA news.”

Barry Langan was a huge Gaelic football fan and played for Urney GAA in his youth. However, during the last few years, he had been a regular face at Strabane Sigersons, due to Dara playing youth football with the club.

Speaking about the upcoming skydive, Dara said he wanted to do ‘something big’ in his dad’s memory.

He said, “We plan to do a skydive for the Anthony Nolan charity in June 2024 and in the weeks leading up to this we will be organising different events to raise funds for this cause with help from our GAA clubs (Sigersons and Shamrocks), schools (Holy Cross College and Strabane Academy), and Gaelcholaiste Dhoire Dungiven as well as local businesses. These have all been extremely supportive and generous to our cause already with our GoFundMe page raising over £3,000 so far.

“We are all very lucky to have so much support from our schools and clubs.”

Dara added, “We all really appreciate everyone who has taken the time to read our story and who have donated to this very worthy cause and we will do everything that we can to raise awareness for something that is now close to my family’s heart.”

The Anthony Nolan charity aims to improve the lives of people with blood cancer and blood disorders. The charity is also supporting researchers’ work on finding new ways to treat blood cancers.

A GoFundMe page has been set up and to donate to it you can by visiting https://gofund.me/28e92d5b. Alternatively, you can use the QR code published along with this article.