Family of tragic John C praise for 'virtual strangers' who offered to help

Louise Walsh
The family of a young man whose body was recovered from the River Blackwater in Co. Meath have thanked 'virtual strangers' who helped in the search two months ago.
The Tobin family from Kilmainhamwood in Kells are still trying to make sense of the death of popular jockey John C Tobin (31) who went missing in November.
Tragically it's the second young death to hit the family after they lost John C's dad Paul almost 20 years ago at the age of 32.
The well-known family are now in the process of organising a fundraising race night in aid of Meath River Rescue, who they say played a huge part in finding John C so fast.
A race night was chosen to remember John C's passion for horses, which he developed into a career.
Sister Aimee said: “John C loved horses, he lived and breathed for them. My mum's cousin was trainer Christy Roche in the Curragh and my gran had horses on her farm in Rosmeen in Meath, so we grew up around horses.
“John C in particular had a gift with them. He was a horse whisperer and went to train in RAS in the Curragh when he finished school.
“After that he worked with a number of local trainers including Tom Gibney, Michael Mulvany, Matthew Smith and Hugh Finnegan. He also socialised a lot and everyone knew and loved him.
“He made friends everywhere he went and was always surrounded by a large circle of people who just loved being around him.
“He'd often go out with his friends and we wouldn't see him for a few days but we wouldn't worry because that was just John C. This time though, I just knew something had happened.”
On November 13th last, John C was watching the Conor McGregor fight at a friend's house in Kells and left in good spirits, according to friends.
He was last seen by a friend jumping a wall at Stonebridge Estate which led to Maudlin Bridge in the town. He often climbed the wall as a short-cut, according to Aimee.
However this time, he didn't make it home. “We just had a feeling when he didn't come home that something happened. A friend was down from Dublin and he hadn't made contact with him,” said Aimee.
“His friends said he was in great form when he left their house in the early hours of the morning and that nothing seemed wrong.
“A few of us, including my mam June and brother Aaron started searching the fields, fearing that he may have fallen and banged his head. We then reported him missing with Kells gardai.”

(Aimee Tobin with brother Aaron and mum June)

Aimee put up a post on social media and was shocked at how fast it went viral.
“I couldn't get over the amount of people - strangers - who had shared it. We even started getting messages from his friends in England hoping we'd find him.
“Family and so many friends from everywhere turned up to help us search the area and everyone was just amazing. We were and still are overwhelmed by the support we received from gardai, people, the community and all the online users.”
The Meath River Rescue began their search the following day and found John C in the river, only a short distance away from where the family had searched.
“It was so close to the spot where we looked. Maybe it's just as well that we didn't find him ourselves.
“We believe John C fell into the river on his way home. It was just a tragedy. You hear about these things so often but it's only when it reaches your own doorstep that you realise how amazing people are who volunteered to help in every way.
“We are holding this fundraiser as our way of saying thanks to everyone, especially the Meath River Rescue who do so much on donations. We'd also like to very much thank Jockeys Trust Ireland for all the support they have given us since John C's death.”
The race night will take place in the Headfort Arms Hotel in Kells on April 1st at 8pm.

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