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THOUSANDS OF EURO have been donated to help Monaghan teenager Kym Owens with her recovery after she suffered serious injuries walking home to her student digs.
The 18-year-old is still in intensive care as a result of injuries she received walking through Moyglare Abbey in Maynooth, Kildare last month.
Gardaí are investigating a number of lines of inquiry. However, friends and family of Owens have started fundraising in her name in a bid to help her recovery.
So far, a number of efforts have resulted in over €20,000 being raised to aid her recovery.
The 18-year-old suffered a broken nose, fractured eye sockets, a dislocated jaw as well as a number of broken teeth.
Gardaí have not ruled out that a fall may have caused her injuries. However, they originally believed Owens was the victim of a violent assault.
Donations have been collected using a number of different methods including online donations and charity nights held by The Roost Pub in Maynooth and other events based in Monaghan.
The Kym Owens Recovery Fund said it is a local committee ”formed to raise funds to aid Kym’s long road to recovery and we are keeping close contact with her family”.
Kevin Rooney, who started the group, said: “We know we speak for everyone in Castleblayney when we say our thoughts and prayers are with Kym and her family, but we want to reach out to the entire nation in our appeal, as we know this has touched the hearts of everyone.
“We will be organising a series of funding events over the coming weeks and appreciate donations in the form of spot prizes.”
Superintendent Gerry Wall of Leixlip garda station said Kym travelled on the A2B bus service starting out in Monaghan town on Sunday 20 November. The bus travelled to Carrickmacross and into Castleblayney arriving there around 6.15pm. The bus arrived in Maynooth at around 8.15pm.
Speaking in the aftermath of the assault, Wall said:
My appeal here today, and An Garda Siochána’s appeal, is for witnessses to come forward – people who may have been on the bus, who travelled on the bus. Did you get on or off that bus? Did you arrive in the bus in Maynooth that evening?
Any information, however trivial it may seem, should be given to gardaí, Wall said.
He gave a description of the student as being 5′ 3″ in height with long brown hair. On the night in question she was wearing a dark green coat with a hood. She had a red hoodie under the coat, and was wearing black jeans and white Converse runners.
She was carrying a distinctive green and yellow bag at the time of the incident.
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Last week I read it was a few girls who attacked her, now the Guards are not ruling out a fall, they are terrible injuries from falling, the poor girl, I hope she makes a full recovery soon.
Pretty hard to break both of your eye sockets from a fall I would’ve thought
@Paul Hughes: Bizarre line that the police “have not ruled out that a fall may have caused her injuries”.
A fall from where?
It’s just a strange thing to put in after all the focus was some random attacker.
Fozz. Maybe she fell from a plane!
A medical expert said he couldn’t rule out the damage was from a fall. That’s all. Still more likely an assault.
Not if you fainted and did not save yourself. In any way. Could easily get an awful wallop off concrete.
A fall?
@George McCarthy:
Think Faceplant.. the whole business end would shatter.. ie that part of your head from your forehead to chin & all in b’tween.
Witnessed one happen. fact youtube it. you’ll see what the latest theory is hinting at.
First time I’ve seen a fall being put forward as a possibility in this case,
The S cum that done this needs to be found and put down
What kind of fall would cause the following injuries:
suffered a broken nose, fractured eye sockets, a dislocated jaw as well as a number of broken teeth ???
I can’t think of one. The likelihood of fracturing eye sockets in addition to a jaw and teeth injury seems remote. Even remoter with a nose injury I would have thought. These would seem to be directional impacts and from different directions.
Too much CSI
Well, they are all facial injuries so it’s entirely possible a fall from fainting maybe where you do nothing to save yourself.
The police jumping to conclusions that she had been attacked by a stranger really scared a lot of people.
@Jack Bowden: When did the police say that?
@Eyepopper: Very true, the Guards ask for information from the public. It is comments sections and newspapers that throw out assumptions as to what happens that scares people.
For the sake of the family, you would almost hope that it was a fall, and not someone or a gang of people that did this to her.
Why are comments disabled on a story about Patrick Hickey coming back to Ireland?
@Dermot O’Malley: Because the deluge of well-wishing posts would overwhelm the servers.
“WELCOME HOME OUR BELOVED PAT’ and so forth.
A fall??? A fall from what..the tree?? Ffs. Maybe this is just a way to make the attacker/s think they’re getting away with it..and make them slip up and reveal themselves.
@Elaine Reilly:
If that is the case then you just gave the game away
Hardly think so. I’ve just said what everyone thinks. A fall is a pretty ridiculous assumption. And whoever done this knows just that. Fingers crossed they’re caught soon.
How could you Elaine
patrick hickey must be a real loved man because we cant comment on any of his articles
Gardai reviewed medical reports that have only shown one blunt force trauma to head.
“The eye sockets, her jaw, nose and teeth injuries may have all resulted from just one blunt force trauma and that would be consistent with a fall.
maybe she sacred to rat on who beat her up
have your say