News
Surgery could change little Ella’s life
The three year old daughter of a South Galway woman – diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy a few months after birth – has one shot at living life without a wheelchair. But her family needs €150,000 to make her dream come true.
Ella Doyle is a bright little three year old who loves dancing, singing and stories – and while she can now get around with a walking frame, as her illness progresses she will require a wheelchair for mobility.
BY JIM HYNES
That’s unless she can undergo a life changing operation called Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy, a complex spinal surgery that involves cutting some of the damaged sensory nerve fibres that are causing the spasticity.
It is the only procedure that will permanently reduce or eliminate spasticity in the legs – but unfortunately it is not available in Ireland.
That’s why Ella’s mum Nicola Dervan – originally from Killimor – and dad Simon from Arklow have appealed to their old communities to help raise the €150,000 to pay for the life-changing surgery in the US.
“Ella is happy, bright, mischievous, inquisitive and full of life. She loves dancing, singing and story time. Ella adores her little sister Millie who is one and a half and has to follow all of Ella’s orders.
“Ella attends playschool and gets so excited when she hears it is a playschool day as it means lots of fun and games with her friends. Ella loves to get involved with all of the games but sadly she is currently unable to fully participate due to her mobility,” says Nicola.
Ella was born on December 10 2012 in the Coombe Hospital in Dublin – but as the months passed her parents noticed she was not moving as you would expect a baby to move. After a number of appointments in the Coombe Hospital, Ella was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy.
Ella’s cerebral palsy causes tightness – or spasticity – in her legs, which negatively affects her balance, coordination and muscle strength making simple tasks in life such as crawling, cruising and even sitting harder.
And Nicola explains that Ella currently is unable to stand or walk independently.
“Ella has been attending therapy in Enable Ireland ever since her diagnosis and amazes us every day with her determination, courage and love of life.
“Ella wears orthotics on her legs, walks with a ‘Kaye’ walking frame and participates whole-heartedly in daily physiotherapy. However, spasticity over time causes shortening of muscles and tendons, joint contractures and bone deformities.
“Therefore a future of Botox, leg casting and orthopaedic surgical procedures is ahead of Ella to try and prevent these complications. Ultimately however, Ella will require a wheelchair in the future.
“Ella has now been presented with an amazing opportunity of undergoing a life changing operation called Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy.
“This life-changing procedure will be carried out in the world-renowned St. Louis children’s hospital in Missouri.
“Dr. Park is an amazing neurosurgeon who has performed over 3,000 SDR procedures on children with cerebral palsy from all over the world.
“The results of this surgery together with two years post-operative intensive physiotherapy in children like Ella are breath-taking – children who had been told they would never walk are walking, running and jumping,” says Nicola.
To achieve Ella’s Wish to Walk, they are relying on the goodness of people to donate and help this dream become a reality by raising €150,000.
The money fundraised will go towards the surgery, post-operative intensive physiotherapy programme and the equipment Ella requires to facilitate this programme.
Nicola’s own friends and family in Killimor have organized a Cake Sale this Sunday – and the proceeds from a Tug of War in Portumna in two weeks will also go towards her fund.
See Ella’s website for news on her progress.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
On the eve of completing his 150th marathon, an odyssey that has taken him across 53 countries, Loughrea’s Marathon Man has announced that he is planning to hang up his running shoes.
But not before Jarlath Fitzgerald completes another ten races, making it 160 marathons on the occasion of his 60th birthday.
“I want to draw the line in 2026. I turn 57 in October and when I reach 60 it’s the finishing line. The longer races are taking it out of me. I did 20 miles there two weeks ago and didn’t feel good. It’s getting harder,” he reveals.
“I’ve arthritis in both hips and there’s wear and tear in the knees.”
We speak as he is about to head out for a run before his shift in Supervalu Loughrea. Despite his physical complaints, he still clocks up 30 miles every second week and generally runs four days a week.
Jarlath receives injections to his left hip to keep the pain at bay while running on the road.
To give his joints a break, during the winter he runs cross country and often does a five-mile trek around Kylebrack Wood.
He is planning on running his 150th marathon in Cork on June 4, where a group of 20 made up of work colleagues, friends and running mates from Loughrea Athletics Club will join him.
Some are doing the 10k, others are doing the half marathon, but all will be there on the finishing line to cheer him on in the phenomenal achievement.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
From the Galway City Tribune – An impassioned plea for a ‘masterplan’ that would guide Galway City into the future has been made in the Dáil. Galway West TD Catherine Connolly stated this week that there needed to be an all-inclusive approach with “vision and leadership” in order to build a sustainable city.
Deputy Connolly spoke at length at the crisis surrounding traffic and housing in Galway city and said that not all of the blame could be laid at the door of the local authority.
She said that her preference would be the provision of light rail as the main form of public transport, but that this would have to be driven by the government.
“I sat on the local council for 17 years and despaired at all of the solutions going down one road, metaphorically and literally. In 2005 we put Park & Ride into the development plan, but that has not been rolled out. A 2016 transport strategy was outdated at the time and still has not been updated.
“Due to the housing crisis in the city, a task force was set up in 2019. Not a single report or analysis has been published on the cause of the crisis,” added Deputy Connolly.
She then referred to a report from the Land Development Agency (LDA) that identified lands suitable for the provision of housing. But she said that two-thirds of these had significant problems and a large portion was in Merlin Park University Hospital which, she said, would never have housing built on it.
In response, Minister Simon Harris spoke of the continuing job investment in the city and also in higher education, which is his portfolio.
But turning his attention to traffic congestion, he accepted that there were “real issues” when it came to transport, mobility and accessibility around Galway.
“We share the view that we need a Park & Ride facility and I understand there are also Bus Connects plans.
“I also suggest that the City Council reflect on her comments. I am proud to be in a Government that is providing unparalleled levels of investment to local authorities and unparalleled opportunities for local authorities to draw down,” he said.
Then Minister Harris referred to the controversial Galway City Outer Ring Road which he said was “struck down by An Bord Pleanála”, despite a lot of energy having been put into that project.
However, Deputy Connolly picked up on this and pointed out that An Bord Pleanála did not say ‘No’ to the ring road.
“The High Court said ‘No’ to the ring road because An Bord Pleanála acknowledged it failed utterly to consider climate change and our climate change obligations.
“That tells us something about An Bord Pleanála and the management that submitted such a plan.”
In the end, Minister Harris agreed that there needed to be a masterplan for Galway City.
“I suggest it is for the local authority to come up with a vision and then work with the Government to try to fund and implement that.”
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
