The Garvagh community has launched a fundraising campaign for a local family, devastated by the death of their son in the USA at Christmas.

By Fiona Rutherford

fiona.rutherford@derrypost.com

John Thompson jnr died in Minnesota from complications arising from dehydration. His father told the Co. Derry Post he might have lived had he gone to a doctor but he was afraid he would be forced to leave the country.

John jnr had been living in the States for seven years and was due to marry his American fiancée Jane this summer. She joined hoards of local people for his funeral in Ballerin on Sunday.

The tragedy of their son’s death was compounded for John and Angela Thompson by their harrowing ordeal in trying to reach him.

Family friend Gerard O’Kane said they had had to fly from Dublin to Gatwick and then to Minnesota but that the airport was closed because of a snow storm.

“They had to fly somewhere else and then sit and wait four hours to get refuelled. The whole time they knew that John was dead. There was nobody there for them, that was the awful thing.”

Gerard’s brother, Frank, who lives in Chicago, was able to help the family have the body released and flown home quickly.

“John died on Sunday and they were home on Friday. They spent Christmas day sitting in a hotel room in Minnesota in a snow storm in which three people died. It was a terrible, terrible time,” said Gerard.

Ironically, John snr supported his friend, Charlie O’Kane, when he went through a similar ordeal four years ago with the death of his son Eugene in Philadelphia.

John jnr was a natural sportsman and excelled at golf, darts, snooker and pool and was a former member of the Errigal Boxing club. He played football with Ballerin at juvenile level and Glenullin in the adult grade.

His father John is one of Garvagh’s best known citizens and is noted for his historic videos of the local area. He and Angela have three other children – Bernadette, Karen and Christopher.

John Thompson snr said he wanted to warn the thousands of people like his son who might be afraid to go to the doctor in case they would be deported, not to take chances with their health.

“If John had gone to the doctor a couple of days earlier it would probably have saved his life. There are thousands of people like John, who aren’t legal and don’t have health insurance.”

The unexpected tragedy has placed a huge financial burden on the family, with the bills for medical care, hotel rooms and flights reaching almost £40,000.

Friends have launched an appeal fund and donations can be sent to the John Thompson Appeal c/o Northern Bank, Main Street, Garvagh. Sort Code G30338, Account Number 70015903.