A donation has been to Altnagelvin’s ambulance service in memory of two brothers-in-law to recognise the invaluable service it provides.
Derry woman Helena Ferry raised £1,500 by running a half marathon in Barcelona in memory of the two men whose family described them as the ‘greatest of friends.’
Sisters Maeve, whose husband was Michael (Mick) Bullock, and Bridie, whose husband was Laurence Hamilton, along with younger sister Helena decided it would be a nice gesture to recognise the work of the local ambulance service.
The sisters said: “Michael and Laurence (pictured) were the greatest of friends and every Christmas they went out together on the same day.”
When Michael passed away on May 3, 2014 at the age of 67, the family thought it would be fitting to remember him by maintaining their Christmas tradition.
Sadly, after going out as a family on that night, December 13 last year, Laurence passed away on the way home in a taxi.
Helena said: “Maeve’s family kept up this tradition when Mick died and Lawrence was actually out with them the night he took a heart-attack and died.”
The two men met through the sisters, after which Mick was stationed away from home with the army.
Twenty-five years later Mick left the army and returned home, where the two men picked up their friendship which grew over the years.
They had a joint wedding in what they described as ‘a scary time’ during The Troubles, on June 2, 1971.
The ceremony was held in St Mary’s Church in Creggan and Helena was the flower girl on the day.
Speaking about the funds raised by Helena, Bridie and Maeve said the decision was made to donate the money to the ambulance service as they have been dependant on them over the years.
Maeve said: “They had come out to Mick a lot and have always been absolutely brilliant.”
Bridie added: “The night Lawrence took the heart attack I couldn’t fault them in my living room, I couldn’t fault them at all, they were brilliant.
“They tried to work with Laurence and, we don’t think they get the recognition they deserve.
In November last year, Helena organised to run the Barcelona half marathon on Valentine’s Day, as a representative of The Bolt running club, which is based in Derry,
However, after the sad passing of Laurence on December 13, they gathered as a family, as they have done every Friday over the years and decided that the ambulance service should be the beneficiary of fundraising efforts.
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