JUST TWO DAYS after the family of former Derry City striker Mark Farren launched an appeal to raise funds for his cancer treatment, online donations have hit the €15,000 mark.
Farren, who underwent surgery for a third time last month, has been battling a brain tumour for six years and now needs to travel to an elite cancer treatment centre in Germany.
The treatment will cost approximately €30,000 and an online funding page was set-up on Friday as the League of Ireland community rallies behind the 32-year-old.
At present, 476 people have made donations via the GoGetFunding page with the total raised currently standing at €15,650.
In addition to that, there will be bucket collections at all SSE Airtricity League grounds over the next two weeks with last night’s game between Longford and Derry marking the start of the funding drive.
Bohemians’ schoolboys will be collecting for Farren at tomorrow’s game against Cork City at Dalymount Park while former Northern Ireland international Pat Jennings has donated a signed Tottenham Hotspur jersey for auction.
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Speaking to Drive 105 radio station, current Derry manager Peter Hutton has urged people to donate what they can and support ‘a lovely young fellow’.
“It’s been a fantastic and duly deserved,” Hutton said. ”Mark’s been a stalwart and legend for the club, not just the club, but the League of Ireland in general. So it’s great that people have come out and shown that response.
“He’s a lovely young fellow, a real gent, and it’s sad that it it takes this for people to rally round, but it just shows the esteem he’s held in.
“Please God the money keeps coming in and he gets the treatment that he needs and hopefully he’s on the road to recovery then.”
Farren retired from football when he was first diagnosed in 2008 but made a remarkable return in 2011 and managed to break Liam Coyle’s goalscoring record before moving to Glenavon.
All donations can be made here and more information is available on markfarren.com
