Truckers escort Tipperary cancer patient through protest blockade
As fuel protests entered their fourth day in Tipperary, one haulier stepped in to ensure a local man made it to his chemotherapy appointment.
Roads in Tipperary have been blockaded by truck drivers, farmers, contractors, and members of the public, including the M8 motorway at Cashel. Roads have also been closed in neighbouring Limerick, including a section of the M7 motorway, the most direct route from Tipperary to University Hospital Limerick (UHL).
Tipperary town man Mickey Collins, a retired truck driver, is currently undergoing treatment for cancer at UHL. On Thursday, one of Mickey’s children submitted a post to the popular Tipp Town Facebook page, saying that although Mr Collins was anxious about reaching his chemotherapy appointment on time, he was in full support of the fuel protesters.
"The cancer care team have reassured him not to worry. Whenever he gets there, he will get his chemo. We will leave extra early. We will spend 5/6 hours in the hospital and we will get home at some stage,” the post read.
"He was a truck driver for all of his working life. He knows every road and by-road the length of Ireland. He is 100pc behind every stoppage on the road and only wishes he was in his full health to support them,” the post added.
After the post was published, the family received many messages of support and good wishes to Mickey for his health, however, one message started a chain of events that saw Mr Collins taken to his appointment by one of the protesters.
A follow-up post on social media said that one of the protesters, Michael Croker reached out and asked if he could help Mickey get to his appointment in Limerick on time.
"He spoke with the other truckers and arranged for my dad to be escorted to the hospital in one of the trucks. His pal, Jason O’Connor collected my dad in his beautiful truck, brought him down on to the motorway and with the kind help also of An Garda Síochána, they sailed along the motorway to the sounds of support from the horns of all the other trucks,” the post said.
"Not only did they take him along the motorway, but brought him to the door of the hospital. Their gesture of kindness, which cost them nothing, was priceless to my dad. And to get to travel once again in a truck especially at this time in his life was amazing,” the family said.
Responding to the post, Tipperary town Sinn Féin councillor Annemarie Ryan said that the gesture showed the best side of Ireland.
"What a great story. Solidarity to the protestors and thank you for such a lovely gesture for Mickey and his family,” she said.
"I’m delighted Mickey was treated so well by the truckers and he got to get back into a cab once again,” the Sinn Féin councillor added.
Elsewhere in Tipperary, filling stations around the county have begun to run dry of petrol and diesel supplies as a result of the fuel protests, with some stations imposing a limit on the amount of fuel people can buy.