Sister names baby boy after tragic biking star
THE sister of a tragic motorcycling star killed at this year's North West 200 has paid an emotional tribute to her brother by naming her newborn baby after him.
Nicola Young gave birth to the healthy baby boy, called Mark William, in Antrim Area Hospital shortly after 1am on Monday, almost six weeks to the day since her older brother Mark lost his fight for life after crashing at his debut North West.
The baby also takes his middle name from Nicola's younger brother.
Speaking to the News Letter at their Cookstown home, Mark's parents Neill and Alma expressed their "bitter-sweet" emotions on the birth of their first grandson.
"I've lost a son and gained a grandson in the last two months," said an emotional Neill, who also revealed that Mark's donated organs have helped save the lives of three people in England and Scotland.
"I can't believe that I've become a grandfather, but at the same time my thoughts go straight to Mark – he would be so proud to have his first nephew named after him."
Alma said: "It is very hard to describe how we are feeling now.
"Normally the birth of any child is a moment of great joy and we are certainly over the moon, but it's bittersweet in a way.
"We know how much Mark had been looking forward to being an uncle and we just wish that he could be here to see the little boy."
In their first interview since the death of their 22-year-old son, Neill and Alma said they have gained a lot of comfort from the donation of Mark's organs.
Alma said: "Just about three weeks before the North West, Mark had been talking about giving his organs away if anything happened to him. But that was the way with Mark, you could never be sure if he was serious or not.
"But we are very glad that we decided to let his organs be donated. It has given us a lot of comfort to know that Mark has helped save the lives of three people."
Mark's organs were transplanted to three people, including a 19-year old girl from Edinburgh, a 50-year-old man from Oxford and a 39-year-old man from London.
Neill added: "In a way, it's like there is still a part of Neill alive somewhere, and we now receive updates on how the three people are doing, even though we will never know who they are."
The couple, who say they have been inundated by messages of support from the close-knit family of road racing, travelled recently to their first race meeting since Mark's death.
"We went to the Bush road races two weeks ago. That was the first time and it was very difficult, very emotional. It was great to meet all our friends but it was very hard to watch the races where Mark should have been involved," said Neill.
"When everyone left, we were just waiting to meet Mark again," said Alma.
The family say they were upset by the "predictable debates" on the dangers of road racing in the immediate aftermath of Mark's death.
Neil said: "There were people talking on and on about the dangers of the sport, and they wanted us to get involved, but there is no way that we would ever get into that.
"Mark knew the dangers and so did we. Some people just don’t understand this sport and what it means to us. Road racing was Mark’s life and the friends we have in road racing are the best people you could meet. It is a very close community and every death hits everyone hard.
“The support we have had, from Mark’s own club here in Cookstown and people across the country and down south, has just been unbelievable.”
At the recent Bush road races, each rider in the 125cc and 250cc classes were presented with a commemorative placard in tribute to Mark, by his sponsors D & W Racing.
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Weather for Belfast
Monday 13 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 4 C to 9 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: North west
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Temperature: 6 C to 9 C
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