Ash trio auction signed guitar to help friend Mark

Ash trio auction signed guitar to help friend Mark

13 April 2022

WITH a helping hand from local band Ash, Downpatrick man John Magee is well on his way to raise £30,000 for his stem cell treatment.

The band’s bass guitarist, Mark Hamilton, from Downpatrick kindly donated one of his guitars to auction off in a eBay fundraiser.

Signed by him and fellow Downpatrick man, lead singer Tim Wheeler, and drummer Rick McMurray from Killyleagh, Mark’s Epiphone Thunderbird guitar currently sits at a price of £2,050.

Mark has been longtime friends with John and his brother Philip.

John (43), who has cerebral palsy, explained that Mark was quick to offer his help after he recently launched his crowdfunding appeal. 

“We all go a long way back as Mark and Philip have been friends since Ash was playing gigs around Downpatrick,” he explained.

“Mark just said that he wanted to and came up with the idea of auctioning one of his guitars and got Tim and Rick to sign it as well.

“It means that for anyone who donates money to my page will automatically go into a draw and win tickets for any of Ash’s concerts from now until next year.”

John added: “I’m absolutely ecstatic at what Mark and the band have done and just overwhelmed by their support.”

Posting an appeal on social media with a picture of the band with the instrument, the guitarist wrote: “Anyone wanna win one of my basses?

“The auction is a fundraiser for a long time friend and regular live photographer, John Magee from Downpatrick, who is looking to get expensive, life-changing stem cell treatment in Switzerland.

“The Thunderbird is one I’ve used at home throughout lockdown for the past two years. It was signed by all of Ash last week at the Supergrass/Ash Brixton Academy show.”

The musician added: “As an added bonus, anyone who donates to John’s GoFundMe on or before May 31 [2022] will be included to win a pair of tickets to any 2022/2023 Ash headline show of their choice.”

John is aiming to raise the money to fund private stem cell treatment in Switzerland. He has been told by doctors that he may need a wheelchair within the next five years.

He was just five years old when he suffered a brain injury in an accident in December 1984.

Rafters fell on him while he was playing near a building site, leaving him in need of surgery due to a serious bleed on the brain.

When he woke from a coma two weeks later, he had no feeling down his right hand side.

Further investigations revealed he had cerebral palsy, which left him with limited mobility and paralysed down his right side permanently. 

He learned how to walk and talk again, but as a result was held back in school during his recovery.

He has been living with the impact of the condition ever since and is finding his mobility and use of his limbs becoming more difficult as the years pass. 

John believes that funding private stem cell treatment in Switzerland is his last chance of greater mobility — and a chance of normal life as a husband and father in the future.

He has researched stem cell treatment therapy and spoken with specialist doctors in Switzerland who believe that they can help him.

His appeal currently stands around £2,200 and donations can be made at www.gofundme.com/f/help-john-have-a-new-start-in-life? To bid for the Ash guitar, visit www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3940§974526