Local Special Olympic medallists welcomed home

"I thought I'd never get him home; I miss him so much," Patricia Gannon said yesterday before going to Dublin airport to welcome her Special Olympics multi-medal winning son John Michael home. Yesterday was a double celebration for John Michael, who attends St Hilda's Special School in Athlone. A party awaited him in his home town of Cloghan in Offaly to celebrate the two gold and two silver medals he won in Athens last week, and he also celebrated turning 18. A separate homecoming party planned by St Hilda's is planned for tonight (Wednesday). Another St Hilda's pupil and member of Athlone Special Olympics Club, Paul Dalton, from Ballinahown, and Michael Glynn from Drum were also medallists. They took bronze as part of the Irish basketball team. John Michael's mother Patricia took her first ever plane journey on June 24 to support her son in Athens, along with her husband Christy. After following their son's first performance representing Ireland on an international sporting stage both Christy and Patricia could not be more proud. "Seeing his two hands in the air when they called out his name...," father Christy reminisced yesterday, "fantastic so it was." "I'm very proud of him," Patricia added. The couple have not been on holidays since their honeymoon in 1981, but both say they very much enjoyed being in Athens. "It was beautiful," former taxi-driver Christy said. "We were in a hotel by the sea so there was a constant lovely breeze." "People were so nice," he added. "We met in with a lovely crowd from Donegal." Christy and Patricia arrived home last Thursday night, while John Michael arrived back in Ireland yesterday just past noon with his Team Ireland colleagues. Parents-of-six, Patricia and Christy were waiting at arrivals for their youngest son, with plans to visit Christy's 86-year-old mother Kathleen in Tullamore hospital before returning to Cloghan just past 6pm that evening.Neighbour Bridie Reams revealed homecoming plans to the Westmeath Independent, funded by generous donations from local people. "The day he went we started planning for him coming home," Bridie said yesterday. Principal of St Hilda's in Athlone Ann Gately, who is also John Michael's trainer, added her congratulations. "We're absolutely thrilled, ecstatic," she said. "We're delighted for him and his family." St Hilda's will host a celebratory party for John Michael and two other local Special Olympians who competed in the basketball competition - Michael Glynn from Drum and Paul Dalton from Ballinahown - tonight at 8pm in The Bounty. Ann said John Michael won't be fazed by the busy social diary however. "He's very sociable," she said. "He'll enjoy everything that happens."