As thousands of runners tackle the 35th Dublin Marathon today, more than 18,000 kilometres away in New Zealand Limerick man Patrick Gibbs is preparing for the November 2nd Auckland Marathon, three years after he was told he would never play sports again.
A celebrated sportsman who had represented Ireland in Australian-rules football in 2008 and grew up involved in hurling, lifesaving, and track and field, Gibbs is running to support Child Cancer Foundation of New Zealand not only to celebrate his own recovery from a horrific car crash in 2011, but also to honour his aunt and his girlfriend’s memory.
His aunt Maire Enright from Co Limerick is battling brain cancer after defeating breast cancer one and a half years ago. His girlfriend, Kelly Meehan (31) from Co Clare died in the same 2011 crash.
“(My aunt’s) attitude is amazing for someone who’s been given bad news,” Gibbs said by phone from his home in New Zealand. “For people who are perfectly healthy, we complain too much.”
“Kelly would have wanted to do something for kids who couldn’t do it for themselves,” he added. “I thought giving back to kids would be close to her heart. I wanted to keep the idea of doing something every few years in Kelly’s name, and help kids because they have a living, breathing chance.”
At 2am on November 14th, 2011, 300 miles north of Perth, Western Australia, the car Gibbs and Meehan were travelling in on the Great Northern Highway collided with another car, and it changed their lives.
Gibbs hit the brakes to avoid the other car, knocked his head on the steering wheel and everything went black for a few seconds. “And then I thought, ‘Wake me — I must be dreaming.’”
The couple had moved to Carnarvon, a coastal town of fewer than 5,000 people in Western Australia to escape the 2008 recession in Ireland. Gibbs worked as a civil engineer. “It all seemed to be too good,” he said.
“Our lives were turning around, we were working hard and finally getting some good luck, and it all just changed so fast, I thought it was just a bad dream.”
Gibbs was pinned in the car with both kneecaps fractured, his right collarbone snapped and his right foot crushed under the brake pedal.
His girlfriend, who had been asleep, never woke up.
Given the extent of Gibbs’s injuries, it was hard to get a yes or no answer from his doctor on his chances at a complete recovery.
One doctor said: ‘I’ll put it this way: You’ll never run a marathon,’” Gibbs said.
“Doctors said Patrick might not walk, let alone run or play sports,” said Phis brother William. “That set an impact on him: ‘I will run again, and, not only that, I will run a marathon’.”
Gibbs cannot run completely naturally now — he cannot regain the flexibility in his foot, which causes a bit of pain, and the impact on his knees also hurts.
“But it’s a marathon,” he said. “It’s not supposed to be easy.”
Even running five or six kilometres with his brothers, William and James, during a trip to Kerry this August was a challenge for Gibbs. William could tell his brother was in difficulty. “And I asked him, ‘How are you going to run a marathon?’”
The Auckland Marathon on November 2nd is perfect timing for Gibbs because he said he is up for it physically, and it is also the day of his 30th birthday. “I’m not a big birthday person,” he said. “I just think spending the day that’s your 30th running after being told you can’t and also giving back, that’s more important.”
On July 24th, 2012 — what would have been Kelly’s 32nd birthday — Gibbs walked into Perth Children’s Hospital and dropped off 10 balloons at the reception desk for the young patients. “It was something I wanted to maintain,” he said. “I also think about giving back because you’re lucky enough to be there.” He did the same at a children’s hospital in Belfast on his birthday that year.
He moved to New Zealand in March 2013. “I lost a lot of confidence in Australia and that was tough at the beginning,” he said. “Coming to New Zealand was about trying to get my life back together and concentrate on my working life.”
The crash is something Gibbs does speak about a lot because he worries that it will change people’s perception of him. “You want people to see you for the work you do and how effective you are,” he said, “and not hold back when you mess up.”
But if it can get people to give to a good charity, Gibs said, it’s a story worth telling.
His online fundraising for the Child Cancer Foundation began three weeks ago, and there is still some way to go before his NZ$5,000 (€3,100) goal is reached. “It takes my breath away that people are giving,” Gibbs said. “I didn’t expect it at all.”
He has not set himself a target time for the Auckland Marathon. “I don’t want to walk it; I want to run it,” he said. “It’s just about finishing. I’d like to think at least I can get over the finish line in one piece.”
And after that: “I’ve joked that for the month of November I just want to relax,” he said.