A media scrum was on hand today as Dan Martin opened the new facility at Temple St Children's Hospital in north Dublin; the top rider's profile and work with www.cycle4life.ie having helped to raise the funds needed for the extension.
By Gerard Cromwell
Tour de France stage winner Dan Martin was in Dublin today to cut the ribbon on the new Top Flat Ward at Temple Street Children’s Hospital.
The new ward, part of which was funded by Martin’s Cycle4Life charity ride around Meath over the past two years, has a mix of four and two bedded units and four single isolation rooms.
One of the single rooms is fitted out to monitor children who have uncontrolled epilepsy while the other three are fitted with an air-pressured controlled environment which will be of particular benefit to cystic fibrosis sufferers and children with infections.
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“To have the opportunity to cut the ribbon and open somewhere that looks after so many kids, to see the new ward - some of which Cycle4Life has helped pay for, and to meet so many of the kids in here made for a really special morning in the hospital,” said Martin today.
“I don’t think many people realise how much the hospital relies on private funding from events like Cycle4Life and others to do improvements. The day to day running is covered by the government but the improvements that need to be made; the funds for them have to be raised privately.
“I feel really privileged and fortunate to have the opportunity to help out in that way.”
Although he had been in the building on his last visit to the hospital in April Martin was amazed by the transformation this morning.
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“I visited the new Top Flat in April, before the renovations began and it hadn’t been touched since the early 1900s,” he said.
“It was 80 or 90 years old and to see the difference now... it’s incredible. The facilities are mind blowing. Every bed has an entertainment system, the medical equipment is all modernised and it’s a much more comfortable environment to be in now.
“I’m sure it was a bit crazy for the kids today with loads of photographers taking pictures and stuff. But to see it in use and see how comfortable the kids are there... and from talking to the nurses who have had the experience of working on the ward, they’ve said it makes their life much easier and helps them improve the care they can provide.
“Obviously it’s not a pleasant thing to be ill, but hopefully it helps the kids and the families to be a bit more comfortable.”
Martin’s career has had a steady upward trajectory since he turned professional in 2007, winning the Route du Sud and the Irish national championships in his first season as a pro.
His 2013 season saw him win the Tour of Catalunya, Liege-Bastogne-Liege and a stage in the Tour de France.
With the Garmin Sharp leader ending the season ranked number six in the world, his profile has ensured a huge turnout for the Cycle4Life event each year and a steady stream of funds for the project.
“I feel very fortunate that I’m in the position I’m in and I can help out and almost use my new found status to make people aware of what’s going on,” he says.
“I was born premature and I made it through and it's nice to be able to use my story as an inspiration to parents and kids who are in the same kind of situation as I was then, that you can go on and lead a healthy life.
“For us to be able to help those kids survive.., I mean, I win races for fun but they need to win their race to live. Maybe I can help those kids aspire to have success later in life and hopefully they’ll all be on the roadside when the Giro comes to Dublin in May.”
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