Fundraiser to bring father of two home after cycling brain injury

• Date: 19 December 2020
• Author: Elizabeth Birdthistle
• Published date: 19 December 2020
• Publication title: Irish Times (Dublin, Ireland)

For the family of Des Vallely, who established Irish Village Markets, it has been particularly difficult. On January 8th, shortly after dropping his children Daniel (12) and Ella Rose (9) to school, Vallely was cycling to work along the quays in Dublin, looking forward to heading on holidays the following day.

Instead he suffered a catastrophic brain injury after falling from his electric bike. The children did not see their father again for six months and when they did, he was unable to speak and wheelchair- bound after life-saving surgery at Beaumont Hospital.

'Locked away'

The coronavirus pandemic added further complication to this tragedy, with Vallely's wife Tara Dalton unable to visit, and left to feel that her husband "was locked away like a prisoner".

After a move to the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dún Laoghaire, his fighting spirit saw him begin to communicate with the blink of an eye and whispers.

Seeing the spark in his eyes when his children were eventually allowed to visit, the family determined to bring him home.

"I've known Des for 20 years, he is inspiring and full of possibility," says auctioneer Niall Mullen, who is behind an online charity auction to raise funds to allow the...