Andy Reid grew up in Crumlin. He would go on to be capped 29 times for his country, so, as a kid, he spent a lot of time playing on the streets.
In those hours, there was the occasional misadventure, a broken arm or a sprained ankle, and Andy or one of his brothers would find themselves in Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital in Crumlin.
Reid went on to play for Ireland and to have a successful career in England with Nottingham Forest, Spurs and Sunderland among others. Along with his brothers, he set up a taxi company – Halfway Cabs – which is based in Crumlin.
“The community has been good to us and we felt we should give something back,” Reid says. On Wednesday, with enough Easter eggs to keep everyone happy, Reid headed down to the hospital in Crumlin.
The reaction was as you’d expect when a professional footballer shows up armed with a load of Easter eggs. Reid was delighted to be doing something the community which still means so much to him. He says:
“We spent a bit of time here when we were kids, but we were the lucky ones.
“We might have driven our mam and dad demented when we ended up here, but we were always looked after magnificently, patched up and back on the streets ignoring the doctors’ advice before too long.”
It was so nice to give some Easter eggs to the children at our lady's hospital crumlin today! They are heroes!@CMRF_Crumlin @HalfwayCabs 👏🏻 pic.twitter.com/8n1Uh4A1kd
— Andy Reid (@AndyReidXI) April 12, 2017
As he made his way through the ward, Reid brought some joy to kids who weren’t as fortunate and was overwhelmed by something he might not have noticed when he was an occasional visitor: the tireless work of all the staff.
“It was wonderful to do,” he says, “and it’s incredible to see what the doctors, nurses and all the rest of the staff do for the kids who are there. It’s tough to be in hospital at any time, but especially over a holiday, and everyone there is a star.
“People say footballers are role models but it’s the doctors and nurses in a place like Crumlin who I look up to. And it’s the kids who are the real heroes.”
