Rest in Peace Brendan Mcglone
Conor McGregor: “This kid from Ireland, he has leukemia and it was his final wish. I don’t know. They were saying, ‘This is probably his last wish …”
UFC featherweight Conor McGregor has a lot on his mind, with a world title fight on Saturday. But he made time during his camp for Irish teen Brendan McGlone, who suffered from stem cell leukemia.
“What happened was I got a phone call from a person in the UFC, someone from the Make-A-Wish Foundation reached out to them,” said McGregor on TSN Wednesday, as transcribed by David St. Martin for MMAFighting.com. “This kid from Ireland, he has leukemia and it was his final wish. I don’t know. They were saying, ‘This is probably his last wish and his last wish is to talk on the phone to you.’
“I rang the kid and we talked for a long, long time. I talked with his friends in the hospital, his family.”
Brendan Mcglone @mcglone_brendan
@TheNotoriousMMA thanks for the call!!! Made my day
Brendan offered further detail in an interview last month with the Irish Mirror.
Conor was a great inspiration and said all the greats have faced a great battle in their life and that’s what I’m doing now,” said Brendan. He has offered to come meet me when he’s back in Ireland with his belt. I haven’t been to school since I have been diagnosed but I still keep in touch with my friends.
McGregor had bigger plans still.
Conor McGregor @TheNotoriousMMA
Me and Mike think it’s best to leave your Ma at home for the Vegas trip, but it’s your call champ? @mcglone_brendan
Brendan lost his battle with Cancer and passed away peacefully on July 6.
“Today or last night he passed away and it f***ed my head up,” said McGregor. “This little kid is in Ireland and I’m telling the kid, ‘I’m going to take this belt and bring the belt to you and we’ll raise the belt.’ I would have done it. I would have flown him out to Las Vegas. They were thinking if maybe he got a little bit better we could fly him out to Vegas.
“It’s just a really sad situation. It’s heartbreaking. I’ve lost family members to cancer and it’s a horrible, horrible thing. I wish … I don’t know. It would have been nice if I could have maybe … I don’t know.”
Conor McGregor fights Chad Mendes at UFC 189 on July 11 in Las Vegas, Nevada for the UFC interim featherweight championship.
Rest in Peace Brendan McGlone, died 6 July 2014, at age 14.