Classic Cars and Honda 50s Hitting the Road for Rose on Sunday

At the launch of details of the 11th Ballymac Vintage Car and Honda 50 Run were front from left: Garrett Foley, Rian Murphy, Kian O’Connor, Kate and Rose, Karen and Thomas O’Flaherty, Joan Glover and Paul Horan. Back from left: Tom Glover, Timmy O’Connor, Brian Glover, Tadhg O’Leary, Mary Jones, Donal McGlynn and George Glover. ©Photograph: John Reidy

Members and organisers of the Kerry Vintage Vehicle and Classic Car Club are due to head off on their 11th Ballymac Vintage Car and Honda 50 Run on the coming Sunday, August 8th at 10am.

The much anticipated run will begin with a ‘Cars and Coffee’ event at Ó Riada’s Bar and Restaurant – its usual starting point over the years.

The cavalcade will head towards Tralee and onto Camp and eventually to Dingle and, because of lingering concerns around groups gatherings, the participants will forego the traditional post run meet-up at Ó Riada’s and disperse.

Open Air Gatherings

The anticipation arises from the fact that last year’s run was hit by the Covid clampdown.

Running these vintage vehicles out for the day, listening to the ticking hearts of their motors and the discussions they excite at gatherings – open air gatherings – is exactly what these days are all about.

But there’s always a lot more to this particular run in Ballymacelligott.

There’s the charity element which has raised thousands of Euro for local causes in the course of its existence.

This year the reason for the run is really local and very close to the hearts of the organisers.

A Poster Child

Little Rose O’Flaherty could be a poster child for any event or product anywhere in the world. Instead her charming, smiling face beams out from from a ‘Help Rose Bloom’ poster aimed at raising funds to give her every chance of living a normal and healthy life.

The planned fundraising for Sunday’s run will be by way a ‘Charity Bucket’ and donations will be voluntary and all proceeds will go to Help Rose Bloom.

The run is sponsored by Ó Riada’s Bar and Restaurant and BG Motors Ltd, Tralee Road, Killarney.

For Run Information

Anyone who needs further information about the run is invited to ring: George Glover on: 087 2814545 or Paul Horan on: 087 6989878.

Rose’s Story

Rose’s parents began to notice that she wasn’t meeting the milestones that their first child easily achieved at an early stage and they began to worry.

When they realised that she did not have the strength to hold her head or her upper body at a stage when most or all children would have been able to do so, when she struggled at weaning stage to take any solids and as she began to have recurrent chest infections by the age of four months, they began to further investigate why this was the case.

Comprehensive Testing

Following comprehensive testing Rose was diagnosed at nine months with SNA type 1. Rose began her treatment of Spinraza shortly afterwards.

This diagnosis turned Rose’s, her parents’ and her family’s world upside down and, in one sentence, Rose’s future became very uncertain and a future that would depend on the support of her family, the medical profession and the community at large.

See all of Rose’s story with a click on the link here: http://helprosebloom.ie/

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