WATCH: Grateful Tipperary mother praises the life-saving work of the Dillon Quirke Foundation

A New Inn family has paid tribute to the work of the Dillon Quirke Foundation after a serious heart defect was detected in their hurling-mad son at a cardiac screening session.

“I know I would have stood there somewhere watching him playing a match someday and he probably would have hit the ground eventually,” said Elaine Cummins, mother of Shane who had an internal defibrillator fitted in Crumlin following the screening.

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Shane Cummins was among the Rockwell Rovers club members to avail of the cardiac screening service that was set up by the Quirke family after they lost their son who collapsed and died while playing hurling for Tipperary in Semple Stadium in 2022.

“Like any young fellah they all aspire to be on the Tipperary team, and Shane is no different. The aspiration was always there.
“Shane was never sick as a baby or as a child. The Dillon Quirke screening was coming to Rockwell Rovers, a member of our club, John Fitzgerald, who works in Abbott was the connection, and they were happy to sponsor the screening,” said Elaine.
The screening sponsored by Abbott took place in July 2024.

“Shane went up and lay on the bed, and they put on stickers. I could see her printing sheets and another sheet and another sheet, and I just felt there was something not right.

“They said Shane needed to be referred to a cardiologist, and they sent him to Crumlin straight away. We were told Shane had an extremely enlarged right side of the heart. We were sent for an emergency MRI, and Shane was told to come off of sport immediately,” said Elaine.

Elaine said they went on to do EP mapping in Crumlin, and they raised Shane’s heart rate.
“Shane had a cardiac arrest on the table, and there was a diagnosis of ARVC ( Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy).

“ It is a progressive disease, and it will progress. Shane was fitted with an internal defibrillator on January 19 2025. He was nine months out of playing hurling,” said Elaine.

“Without the Dillon Quirke Foundation, we would never have picked it up. Without the scan, our story would have been very, very different. We are very lucky, and we know we were very lucky,” said Elaine.

She praised the work of the Dillon Quirke Foundation and thanked Abbott and the staff for their work with the foundation.

“The work Abbott does and the fundraising the company and the staff do is so important. We will be forever grateful for this screening. It found something we never would have known about until it was too late.

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“The Dillon Quirke Foundation and the generosity of the employees at Abbott have given my son a second chance. I want other parents to know the importance of this screening,” said Elaine.
Shane, now 17-years-old, is delighted to be back playing hurling with his club.Shane, who has one sister Maeve, also plays football with Rockwell Rovers and plays on the school teams at Cashel Community School.

“It was very tough for me. My club and the coaches were very good to me. Only for the Dillon Quirke Foundation, I would not be in this position, and I am so grateful to be back playing sport,” said Shane.

Dan Quirke, Dillon’s father, said that since the journey started with Abbott in 2024 he was blown away by what the company and the staff have done to support the Dillon Quirke Foundation.

He paid tribute to the employee group Croii an Oir and their amazing fundraising campaign, which he said makes such a difference to local communities.

“We, as a foundation, are delighted to be involved with Abbott. It is a huge solace to me. After Dillon’s passing, for me it is keeping me going, I have a purpose in life and a real good purpose,” said Dan Quirke.
Tipperary hurling captain Ronan Maher said that what the foundation had achieved showed just how much Dillon meant to so many people.

“It hit home with everybody all around the country. Dillon is an inspiration and his family is an inspiration, and I am hugely proud to support the Dillon Quirke Foundation.”

The Dillon Quirke Foundation and Abbott began their partnership in 2024 to honour the legacy of Dillon Quirke and to increase awareness of the importance of early detection of heart conditions in young athletes.

The Foundation provides cardiac screenings across Ireland for athletes between 12-17 years of age to identify heart conditions at an early stage. Every year, Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS) takes 100 young lives in Ireland, deaths which could be prevented by early identification of heart conditions via cardiac screening.

To date, employees at Abbott have raised over €250,000 for the Dillon Quirke Foundation. Deirdre Mullins, Senior Site Director of Abbott’s Vascular business in Clonmel, recently presented the funds to foundation chair Dan Quirke and two of its ambassadors, hurling legend Henry Shefflin and Tipperary Captain Ronan Maher.

Abbott employees nominated local sports clubs to participate in the cardiac screenings.
This has seen over 50 youth sports clubs involved, including Moyle Rovers, Clonmel Rugby Football Club, and Carrick United AFC. In total more than 2,000 young people have benefitted from the screenings and while most received all clear, a small number received important and actionable health information.

Dan Quirke added: “Our foundation and the team at Abbott share a united goal to empower people to live their best lives through good health.
“Thanks to the support and generosity of the Abbott employees, we have been able to accelerate our screening services and provide a very real impact to 2,300 families.

“As we look to expand the number of different clubs and sporting organisations we work alongside, we are incredibly grateful for Abbott’s ongoing support in our shared mission to catch potential heart problems in young people at the earliest opportunity.”