Frampton fan Gary enjoys dream trip to Vegas, thanks to generosity of family and friends

Gary Campbell, from Old Warren, was due to travel to ‘Sin City’ on Friday, January 27 to watch Belfast boxer Carl Frampton’s world title fight at the MGM Grand. However, just hours before he had to catch his flight from Dublin Airport he realised he’d lost his wallet, which contained all his spending money for the trip.

“After he put a status on Facebook asking if anyone had seen his wallet, and with him feeling he was now unable to go, I decided to post a status asking for people’s help to try to get him some money together so he could still go and enjoy his dream trip,” explained Gary’s friend, David Armstrong.

“It was 11pm and late and he was due to leave for Dublin airport at 3am. With no bank cards and unable to transfer money etc we needed to try and get him the cash together quickly to be able to go. It was a long shot but people quickly got back to me saying they wanted to help.

“Thanks to the people of Lisburn and their generosity, within the space of an hour and a half we where able to raise a staggering £850 for him to go.

“When we called him to say we’d had a whip round and got him some money to go at first he was unwilling to accept, but we told him that he had no other choice and we wanted to help. He was going to miss the trip of a lifetime. We arrived at his house at 1am with the £850 raised and he was overwhelmed with what the people had done.”

Having enjoyed a week-long break in Vegas, including making it to the MGM Grand for the boxing, Gary is due to return home to Lisburn on Friday, February 3.

The catering company delivery driver, who celebrated his 31st birthday in style while in Vegas, thanked all those who helped ensure that he didn’t miss out on his dream trip.

“I had the experience of my life. Getting to go to the MGM where all the boxing greats have been and watching the boxing was amazing. I was gutted about the result, but I think Carl took the defeat like a true gent and was gracious in defeat,” he said.

“He had great support from our wee country, and even though he got beat he still came out on Sunday to Nine Fine Irishmen bar in New York New York to thank the fans for coming.”

Gary, who still has no idea what happened to his dollar-filled wallet, added: “I would like to thank my aunt Carol and cousin Kelly for helping me and also David Armstrong, Philip Clarke, John and Cathy Graham and their two sons Joby and Ryan, and Ben Mehaffy for collecting and sorting everything for me. I’d also like to thank the people of Lisburn who text me and wished me a good time and who supported me.”