​‘A Night of Legends’ coming to the Point in aid of local DJ

​Fergie McWilliams, also known as DJ Fergie, is confined to a wheelchair following a stroke and needs 24-hour care.

To help with the costs, his friends James McGivern and Garret Ward have come together with the fundraising initiative.

“A few years ago, Fergie suffered a serious brain haemorrhage injury, after he collapsed when out playing cards with his friends,” explained James.“By the time the ambulance arrived, the brain damage was too severe. He was in hospital for a while an induced coma, he suffered a stroke, and was even pronounced dead at one point, but they revived him.

“He lost his ability to speak, and he lost his strength and power in his right arm and his right leg. He uses a wheelchair now to get around, and can only walk distances of 10 to 15 steps, with the aid of a walking stick“Me and my friend Garret Ward spoke to the family, asking was there anything that we could do, because Fergie was a very good friend of ours.

“We raised £3,000 for him through a GoFundMe page, which was initially designed with the hope of getting him an electric wheelchair, but his carers assessed that he wouldn't be suitable for one. That money will instead be used for his care, as he needs 24-hour care.

“So, we thought about doing a small dance event to raise money and we reached out online to a few people to see if it would be possible. The response from the DJ community that knew Fergie was absolutely instant.”

Quickly, the event went from a ‘small dance’ to one of the best DJ line-ups ever assembled in Ireland, as all throughout the community, people were happy to come onboard to help raise money for Fergie.

“We had around 40 or 50 of the biggest DJs in the country offer their services, and we had to narrow that down to 27,” said James.“It's one night only at the Duke in Warrenpoint, we have use of the Skylite Room, Graffiti Street and the Beer Garden free of charge, for the night.

“They're over the moon to be able to hold an event like this, because the owner knew Fergie pretty well.“It's called 'The Night of Legends'. You just have to look at the flyer – Mandy Reid, X-Ray, Sci, Bru, Gleave Dobbin, Mark Wesley – they're the biggest names on the dance scene in Northern Ireland.

“To have all these acts come together on one night has never happened on the island of Ireland, so it just shows you how well Fergie was thought of. The response has been brilliant – we have people coming from all over Northern Ireland for this night – there will be buses and coaches coming in from everywhere!”

James and Garret are hoping to raise approximately £10,000 through the event, alongside the £3,000 already raised. Tickets are selling quickly for the event – but there are still some available for £19.99 at www.glistrr.com. Search for ‘A Night of Legends’.