The funeral will be held on Wednesday for a former Irish athlete who died in a car crash on Valentine’s Day in the United States.
Long-distance runner Jamie McCarthy (33) from Kinsale, Co Cork, was involved in a collision near his home in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
He was pronounced dead at Grand Strand Medical Centre. His girlfriend, Cristina Martinescu, survived the crash.
Mr McCarthy won a European cross-country silver for the Irish junior team 14 years ago in Edinburgh and was an Irish junior 3,000-metres champion. He was a former member of Riverstick Kinsale athletics club.
He enrolled at Coastal Carolina University (CCU) in 2006 and was named Freshman of the Year at the Big South XC Championships. Following graduation, he worked as an insurance broker and volunteered as an athletics coach.
Fr Robert Young, parish priest of St John the Baptist Church in Kinsale, has described the passing of the talented athlete as an “awful tragedy”.
“The funeral was delayed by the weather. He [Jamie] got a scholarship there [the US] and stayed. So many people speak highly of him. His grandparents are only dead since last November so it is a very hard time for the family.”
Athletics Ireland have said that they are “saddened to hear of the untimely passing of Jamie McCarthy”. They extended their condolences to the family of the deceased.
Mr McCarthy’s body will be received Tuesday evening at 5pm at St John the Baptist Church in Kinsale before the funeral on Wednesday at 2pm. A private cremation will follow. His parents have requested that donations be made to the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust in lieu of flowers.
Mr McCarthy is survived by his parents, Catherine and Seamus; his partner Cristina; and his siblings Stephen, Luke and Michelle.
A Jamie McCarthy Memorial Mile Fun Run/Walk will take place on March 17th at a stadium in Myrtle Beach.
A memorial fund was set up following Mr McCarthy’s death. The Go Fund me Page set up by friends to pay for travel and insurance expenses raised more than €18,000, exceeding its goal by €3,000.