Death Of Hazel O'Callaghan

The Irish show jumper, Hazel O'Callaghan, passed away today (Wednesday July 3, 2002), after two weeks spent in a critical condition at Beaumont Hospital, Dublin.

Hazel (22) was injured at approximately 11 p.m. on Wednesday June 19 at Copperalley Stud, Maynooth, Co. Kildare, where she had returned after competing in an RDS Qualifying Competition at Claregalway earlier in the day.

While unloading a horse from a lorry, Hazel, from Co. Cork, slipped off the lorry's ramp and sustained a serious head injury. She was immediately rushed to the James Connolly Memorial Hospital at Blanchardstown, Dublin, and susbsequently transferred to the neurological section of Beaumont Hospital in Dublin.

The chairman of the Show Jumping Association of Ireland (SJAI) today (July 3) expressed his deep sorrow at the death of Hazel O'Callaghan, daughter of property developer, Owen O'Callaghan.

Speaking from the RDS Horse Show qualifiers in Cork, Tony Hurley said: <<I am greatly saddened by the untimely death in such tragic circumstances of Hazel. I knew her since childhood and she was an extremely popular person. Her passing has cast a cloud over the association and all involved in horses countrywide are stunned.

<<On behalf of the association, I would like to extend my sympathy to Hazel's family.>>

Hazel O'Callaghan was an accomplished rider and competed successfully at the Kerrygold Horse Show and Millstreet. Mr O'Callaghan is a long-standing member of the SJAI.

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