Tributes paid to Galway teenager after sudden death

Tributes have been paid to 15-year-old Galway student who collapsed and died after a soccer match in the city yesterday.

Junior Cert student Hassan Taiwo had just scored his second goal for his Merlin Woods FC team in a match at Doughuisce when he collapsed and was rushed to University Hospital Galway.

He was pronounced dead a short time later, and a post mortem examination was being carried out today to establish the cause. Gardai said they were treating it as a “tragic accident”.

The student, who was in third year at “The Bish” or St Joseph’s Patrician College in Galway, was a Connacht champion relay athlete, accomplished breakdancer and talented soccer player, who had been involved in coaching fellow pupils up until last week.

He was a keen player for Merlin Woods FC, and had been sent on as a replacement in the second half of the friendly game against Salthill-Devon yesterday afternoon.

He had scored his second goal, but then fell to the ground in the centre circle with just two minutes of play left in the game. Witnesses said that there was no contact, and he had appeared to have been winded. However, emergency services were called and he was rushed to hospital by ambulance.

Hassan's parents Ibulhan and Azeez Taiwo moved to Ireland from Nigeria over ten years ago, and the family of eight has lived in the Headford road area of the city. Hassan had two older brothers in "The Bish", and is also survived by an older sister and two younger siblings.

Nigerian-Galway community pastor Larry Ovie, who is a friend of the family, said that Hassan's father was there at the time and was "absolutely devastated".

Pastor Larry said it was a "big blow" to the Nigerian community in Galway, which was still grieving after the death of three-year-old Solomon Soremekun in a lift in the city last January.

Holy Trinity National School principal Peter Woods in Mervue said that Hassan had been a "very lively and lovely kid" when he enrolled as a junior infant.

In a tribute, his principal at "The Bish", Ciaran Doyle, said that he was "always smiling, full of joy and laughter and well-liked by everyone". The school "extends its sympathy to all of his famly and friends", he said.

His classmates at “The Bish” attended a Mass for Hassan at St Augustine’s church in Galway this morning, and counselling is being made available to pupils, along with support from a school psychologist through the National Educational Psychologist Service, he said.

“Hassan was a valued member of the school community,” Mr Doyle said,describing how he was “actively involved in all aspects of school life”, including winning county and Connacht championships in relay and coming fourth in the All Ireland finals, playing and teaching soccer, and performing a “very lively break dance” in recent school shows.

Former professional footballer and former Galway United FC manager Don O’Riordan said he was “shocked, saddened and numb” at the news of the boy’s death and expressed his sympathies to the family.

“I knew Hassan’s brother well as he has been helping with coaching, and Hassan was one a number of very talented young kids who we teach here, as he so wanted to play the game we all love,” he told The Irish Times.

“Hassan had been on the touchline and itching to get on to play for the second half, which he did,” Mr O’Riordan said, “I am sure he was enjoying the game when this happened.”

Galway United has been supporting the development of Merlin Woods FC, and Mr O’Riordan is its vice-chair. The relatively new club trains young players of many nationalities from the Doughuisce/Ardaun/Roscam area of Galway’s east side.

Mr O’Riordan described how he heard the news in Wexford, having travelled south with the Galway Women’s FC for a national league match.

“We had a very disappointing result, and I was waiting to talk to the team when I heard what had happened through my assistant manager,”he said. “I was numb, and our result just didn’t matter anymore.”

The Galway Football Association said it was "with deepest regret that we receive the news today of the tragic death of Hassan Taiwo, of Merlin Woods FC who passed away during a match yesterday".

“We pass on our deepest sympathies to the his family, friends and players of both clubs involved in the fixture,” the association said in a statement