A lot happened this weekend just gone. There was so much good news, Ireland winning the rugby, England being beaten in the rugby (had to sneak that in!), Formula One coming back to us, the Blog Awards, and lots, lots more!

However, one of the greatest success stories of the weekend evolves out of some very tragic circumstances. A young rugby player by the name of Victor Connell hit the news this weekend. Victor suffered a serious spinal injury whilst playing the sport he loved in October 2005, when a scrum collapsed. As a result, Victor is paralysed from the neck down. He has spent the months since that tragic day undergoing intensive surgery, rehab and physio, and is slowly but surely getting towards the point where he can move home to a very different way of life.

Listening to Victor on the radio the other morning was an inspirational, moving experience. The guy is just so positive, and focused on returning to as normal a life as he possibly can. On Saturday, at the rugby match, 250 friends and family of Victors were doing a bucket collection around Lansdowne Road. They managed to collect a whopping EUR 100,000 for Victor’s fund, surely one of the greatest one-day bucket collections ever done. Obviously Victor’s story didn’t just have an effect on me.

I urge you all to check out his website and learn how to make a donation towards him there. Or, you can check out his cousin Gavin’s blog post about growing up with Victor, and giving details of how to donate to Victor’s fund via PayPal. Please, please go and do this, it’s important.