Mayo man Tom ‘God’ talks about his name and recovery following road smash
PART ONE
By Tom Gillespie
TOM 'God' is everywhere. Or Tom Jennings used to be until a freak road traffic accident left him unable to walk.
It will take months of physio and recuperation before the Mayo County Council traffic-litter warden is back on his feet.
The Castlebar native, and a second lieutenant with the Order of Malta, was dubbed ‘God’ because he was associated with so many organisations in the county town that you could find him everywhere.
But on October 24 last his life-long involvement in community activities came crashing down.
He told me: “The accident happened when I was doing my normal day’s work driving back and forward from Claremorris to Ballinrobe where I work for Mayo County Council, as I have done so for nearly 20 years.
“I am a traffic-litter warden and I was a traffic warden for 16 years in Westport, after which I moved to the Claremorris, Ballinrobe, Swinford area. A lot of my duties would consist of litter as well as traffic control.
“In the course of my duty I was heading to do a litter call where I had arranged to meet a man in Ballinrobe.
“I was travelling between Claremorris and Ballinrobe and a couple of miles outside Ballinrobe there was a tractor coming towards me with a trailer, carrying cattle.
“The trailer it was towing broke loose and it came across the road and hit me. I was lucky to survive, I have injuries, but I am out the other side of it, healing and getting on with life.
“I was trapped in my car for about half to three-quarters of an hour and I had to be cut out and taken to Mayo University Hospital in Castlebar.
“The Order of Malta training that I have done over the last 40 years was amazing how it took over and calmed me down in a situation like that. I was able to use my instincts to make sure that I was OK to a certain degree. It worked out well for me in the end.
“For the hospital, ambulance, and fire brigade personnel, and the lads on the council, I cannot say enough about them. They did everything possible they could at the time of the incident.”
Tom added: “But I am out the other side of it now. I am at home in recovery mode. I was in hospital until the middle of November. It was horrific but I am here to tell the tale.
“I smashed the leg and the knee. I have had a lot of work done around the knee and that area, with a lot of scars.
“The accident changed the way of thinking. There is something at play there that saved me on that day. I have seen accidents in my time and I have seen people killed in less.
“Faith has a lot to do with it. People that may have passed had something to do with it because realistically looking at the state of the vehicle it was a total write-off.
“It has made my faith stronger. Now every Sunday my Holy Communion is delivered to me. Faith is a big thing. They don’t call me God for nothing.”
Many years back Tom was involved with the Culchie Festival in Castlebar where he was put in charge of looking after the contestants.
He said: “There was a couple from Co. Louth. They got together because of the Culchie Festival and they wanted to bring me to their wedding but they couldn’t think of my name but they remembered people calling me Tom God. They sent an invitation to Castlebar addressed ‘Tom God, Castlebar, Co. Mayo' and I got it. The postman that knew it was Tommy Heverin.
“How I got the name was I was passing the church one day and someone said that is a man that is involved in everything and he is God. Because I was so involved in everything they said God is everywhere and the name has stuck with me all down the years.”
Referring to the future, Tom said: “I have to wait and see. The next few months are going to be hard for me, a lot of physio, a lot of recuperation. I have to try and get back walking again. At the moment I cannot put my foot on the ground, never mind anything else.
“Once I get back walking, after that we will see where it goes.
“I miss my pastimes. I love my game of golf on a Saturday or Sunday morning. I was playing with a couple of lads in Balla. I play Balla because it is nice and short and it is easy to get to.
“I am very involved in vintage car rallies and I organise a lot of the clubs. Now I have committed myself to two organisations, the Order of Malta and the Connaught Veteran Vintage Motor Club.”
Referring to the ‘God’ tag, Tom joked: “I remember being on duty with the Order of Malta at the Reek, 10 or 12 years ago, and the hierarchy from Dublin were down from the Order of Malta.
“Archbishop Michael Neary, who climbed Croagh Patrick every Reek Sunday, was coming down. At the bottom of the Reek he was to meet the hierarchy of the Order of Malta.
“I was standing close by at our communications centre and I spotted Archbishop Neary in the corner of my eye.
“He was heading towards the hierarchy, but next thing he spots me and told the hierarchy ‘I want to speak to my boss’.”
* Part 2 of interview in next Tuesday's print edition