Advertisement
©INPHO/Cathal Noonan
Assault

Man arrested in connection with Mark McGovern attack

A 26-year-old man has been in arrested in San Francisco, in connection with the attack on Fermanagh GAA player Mark McGovern.

A GAELIC FOOTBALL player in the United States has been arrested in relation to the incident that left Mark McGovern in a coma.

According to the San Francisco Examiner, Patrick Power is believed to have sparked an off-the-ball fracas that resulted in McGovern being dealt severe head trauma.

The incident occurred in the match between Power’s Celts and McGovern’s Ulster San Francisco on Treasure Island last June.

His team-mates are reported to have heard the 26-year-old Power say ‘he won’t get up from that’ as McGovern lay stricken on the ground.

Police had named Power as a person of interest shortly after the attack, and he was booked into San Francisco County Jail at 8.30am on Thursday morning.

Paul McGrath, PRO of a fund to help the McGoverns with the medical bills and living expenses in San Francisco, read a statement from the family on Friday’s RTE News at One:

“We are glad to hear of Patrick Power’s arrest and that the city of San Francisco will seek justice on Mark’s behalf. There’s no place for this sort of conduct in sports and hopefully this will set an example and prevent others being injured like our Mark.”

The 22-year-old Fermanagh star McGovern recently awoke from a coma, with the Irish community in San Francisco rallying around his family to help them with their $1.25m medical bills. A collection will also take place at the All-Ireland football final between Dublin and Kerry next week.

On the subject of McGovern’s recovery, McGrath told Sean O’Rourke: “He’s going for four or five hours a day to the Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Centre in San Francisco. He’s been progressing well, he’s now up walking and talking. It’s slow but it’s definitely positive.”

Read: The full story on the San Francisco Examiner website >

Read: Animal activists claim responsibility for KLM Open attack >

Your Voice
Readers Comments
1
    Submit a report
    Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
    Thank you for the feedback
    Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.