Celtic hero Phil O'Donnell's daughter leads charity walk

A FUNDRAISING trek along the West Highland Way in tribute to the former Celtic and Motherwell player has been led by his daughter, Megan.

Phil O'Donnell.

Ten years after her dad died of heart failure, Megan launched the charity walk in memory of her dad.

She was joined by Celtic heroes Jackie McNamara, Simon Donnelly and Darren Jackson, and ex-Dundee United player Jordan Moore.

They set off from Milngavie, near Glasgow, to walk the West Highland Way and after reaching Fort William, the team will scale Ben Nevis.

Phil was only 35 when he collapsed while playing for Motherwell on 29 December, 2007, a game watched by his daughter, who was then 12.

A post mortem revealed the dad-of-four died of heart failure.

Money raised by Football Unites will be split between Cardiac Risk in The Young and the Teenage Cancer Trust.

In an article in The Herald, Megan said: “To say that I miss him is fairly obvious.

“I miss the car journeys to school every morning, belting out Queen’s greatest hits and singing songs from the Forrest Gump soundtrack.

“I miss playing football in the hallway, with him as the goalie in the door frame whilst my brother and I chased the ball in our pyjamas, and I miss his shockingly bad karaoke renditions of Neil Diamond’s Forever In Blue Jeans.

“But I don’t think that missing him has been the saddest part of the past 10 years.

“I often think about the fact that I will never truly know him.

“At 12, your parents are your parents and that is that – they know best, they make the rules and you do as you are told.

“However, as the years go by the line between parent and friend starts to blur.

“I am now at an age where I class my mum as one of my best friends and it hurts my heart to think of what could have been with my dad.”

She added: “Unlike my siblings, I was lucky to have my dad present for my first day of high school – my youngest brother, Luc, didn’t even have a father to see him on his first day of primary school.

“But I wasn’t able to share my excitement of getting into university with my dad, and I know that when I graduate I will miss him more than ever.”

Phil, who played in midfield, won a league title and two Scottish Cups with Celtic and was twice Scottish PFA Young Player of the Year. He also played for Motherwell and Sheffield Wednesday, and was capped once for Scotland.

Megan was at the SPL match against Dundee United when her dad collapsed.

Speaking about the months after the tragedy, the praised her mum Eileen, adding: “She survived becoming a widow at the age of 35 and she survived having to bring up four children all by herself.

“I know my dad will be beaming with pride at the amazing job she has done.”

Megan decided to to mark the 10th anniversary of her dad’s death with the charity event after speaking to Simon Donnelly.

They decided to team up with Jordan Moore, who was diagnosed with skin cancer in 2014 at just 19 but has since made a full recovery.

Megan added: “People tell you that ‘time is the best healer’, and it is true. Although the grief doesn’t ever go away – time allows you to adjust and helps turn the shock into your new normality.

“Though time may pass and the pain of losing someone becomes easier to deal with, we should never forget.”

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