Through his G Mac Foundation Graeme McDowell brought a huge smile to seven children and their families who travelled last Tuesday from Dublin to Orlando as guests of the former US Open winner.
With the assistance of Aer Lingus, who continues to support McDowell?s Foundation, a group of 35 people travelled to Florida where one of the highlights was a visit to Disney World.
It is the second year running The G-Mac Foundation and Aer Lingus have arranged for recovering children, from Dublin and Belfast, and their families, to journey to Orlando in Florida, for a holiday of a lifetime.
The G Mac Foundation Group at Dublin Airport before leaving for Orlando.
The children are all recovering cardiac patients of Our Lady?s Children?s Hospital in Crumlin.
The children first delighted in being shown the cockpit of the Aer Lingus plane before settling down for the journey to the Sunshine State.
?Our normal business is take people from A to B but today is very special because you can see you are making a difference to people,? said Declan Kearney, Aer Lingus Director of Communications.
Joe Quinsley with the Children?s Medical Research Foundation remarked:? ?In their four, five, six years on this planet, they?re probably spent about two to three years in hospital.
?They?re families have been sleeping on the floor beside them.? The other siblings have been at home and the family has been split and that?s what this trip means bringing those families together for a family holiday, and probably the first holiday as a family unit.?
McDowell walked through the plane meetings each and every one of the 35 that took the journey to Florida.
?It?s been quite a big task putting it all together but thankfully with the great support of Aer Lingus and Crumlin Hospital we have been able to fly seven great families in last year and seven great families again this year to Orlando for a holiday of their dreams.
?Financially, it?s very cost-effective for my Foundation to be able to do this and with the help of great companies like Aer Lingus so we really appreciate their support.?
And in speaking with the families on the plane McDowell said simply:? ?And the only thing you have to do is enjoy yourselves and have a great time. Have plenty of laughs and smiles and meet some new friends.?
It has been a visit to Crumlin Children?s Hospital in 2011 that made such a strong impact on McDowell that he decided to support the hospital?s latest fundraising campaign.
The campaign called ?Fix Crumlin Hospital? was launched in March 2012 to raise ?8m to revamp the cardiology and cancer wards.
Cramped conditions at the hospital mean parents often have to sleep on the floor to be near their critically ill children.
To date the campaign has raised more than ?500,000.
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