G Force Fitness founder George McCabe discusses how he went from being shot in the knees to forming one of Ireland’s most successful community gyms.
The Drimnagh-based gym currently has over 800 members on a daily basis and recently introduced a free running club with 250 participants.
Founder George McCabe never planned to set up a gym – or live past the age of 22.
“My goal was only to live until I’m 22,” he told The Anton Savage Show.
Growing up in Tallaght, Mr McCabe’s father was shot when he was eight.
“He was kind of one of the first major shootings involved in gangland activities,” he explained.
“It was a mistaken identity to be honest with you – it wasn’t supposed to be him, he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
McCabe’s family then moved to Drimnagh after “getting a lot of hassle” following the death of his father.
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Some 10 years later, on Mr McCabe’s 18th birthday, his brother Eddie was found beaten up in an alley in Inchicore.
“He was tortured to death,” he said.
“It was one of the hardest things I've ever taken on – he lasted nine days in hospital.
“Two hours before he died, I told him I loved him to bits, and he squeezed my hands.”
'I deserved it'
Mr McCabe himself was a “small-time drug dealer”.
“I was just around [gangland crime,” he said. “I wasn't one of the big ones, I was one of the small ones making a few quid.”
Despite his small role, Mr McCabe was shot in both knees when he was just 19 years old.
“I don’t want to talk too much about it,” he said. “Whatever happened to me, I deserved it.
“It was the worst thing that ever happened – the bullets are still in my legs.
“They were going to amputate my leg until my doctor realised I was only 19 and said there was a chance of recovery.”
He said this experience led to a period of “deep addiction and substance abuse” - until his girlfriend told him she was pregnant.
“It was the nail on the head,” he explained. “My brother had young and young Ed was six months old when Eddie died.”
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Since then, Mr McCabe said he has gone from surviving to truly living.
“I have a fantastic community, girlfriend, two kids, great friends and a gym that I call home,” he said.
G Force Fitness started in Mr McCabe’s kitchen as he shared live videos online of workouts during COVID-19 lockdowns.
“I used to be saying nobody is watching this while I’m screaming like a mad thing into the phone,” he said.
He eventually took his workouts outside, where people joined him in free, casual classes.
“People were going pass or screaming from windows saying things like 'you mad things’,” Mr McCabe said.
“I remember saying to the four people who were there and are still there ‘we’ll be laughing one day, and we're going to have the biggest community gym in the whole of Ireland’.”
Now, with a large membership from St. John’s Bosco Community Centre, Mr McCabe does not have any goals on when he will die.
“My ambition now is to wake up every day and keep doing what I’m doing,” he said.
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