Connacht Tribune
Galway family shine a light on reality of coping with critical illness
A Galway family have told of how they coped with the heartbreak of discovering that their new-born baby boy was fighting for his life – and how the new four years were to be a rollercoaster as he waited for the transplant that would give him a fighting chance.
Bernard Óg Keaney was only a few minutes old when doctors realised how seriously ill this brave little boy was. He was immediately rushed from his native Galway to Dublin for life-saving surgery – a journey that they couldn’t have known would become such a part of their lives over the following years.
Bernard Óg and his parents Marieann and Bernard Keaney, from Roundstone, have told their story to show how they relied on the skills and dedication of the team at Temple Street Children’s Hospital.
It’s the final part of a series of videos the hospital has produced, called Living Proof which tells the real-life stories of little patients and their families, who have benefitted from public support and donations.
Bernard Óg’s mum, Marieann, will never forget the day her tiny baby son was taken from her and rushed to Intensive Care.
“You are just so scared. Especially when you see him going off and you are not allowed to go in the ambulance with him. And you are told to take a picture. You think ‘God, will we make it up to Dublin at all like to see him?” she recalls.
But Bernard Óg’s incredible journey was only beginning – and what an extraordinary journey it has been.
A few days after he was born, mum Marieann and dad Bernard were told that their infant son was in renal failure. His kidneys were shutting down.
Temple Street Hospital is now the centre for renal dialysis for the entire country – and for the next few years, it would become Bernard Óg’s home away from home.
At first, the baby boy was put on home dialysis where, for ten or eleven hours a night, seven nights a week, his devoted parents supervised his treatment.
Bernard Óg and his family live outside Roundstone – so they had to travel nearly 300 kilometres to Temple Street where the expert renal team could monitor his devolvement.
As Bernard Óg grew older he began to need regular blood dialysis in Temple Street.
“We would get up around 2am to start him on his fluids. And then we’d get up again around 3.30 or 4am and would hit the road to arrive in Temple Street for 8 o’clock. Bernard Óg would be on the machine for about three hours and then we’d be back on the road again to go home,” recalls Marieann.
The Keaneys continued that gruelling routine three or four times a week for nearly four years, as Bernard Óg came to rely on the dedication and expertise of the medical teams who lovingly cared for him and his exhausted parents.
“The care is second to none in Temple Street. They are just amazing. Each and every one of them. They are like our home away from home,” says Bernard, Bernard Óg’s dad.
The Keaneys knew that their boy would eventually need a kidney transplant to survive. So, they waited patiently for a donor to become available.
At one point, Marieann thought that she might be able to provide her son with the transplant he needed to save his life.
“I got all the workup done and they told me I was all ready to give him the kidney. But then I got a phone call – I’ll never forget it – and they said ‘we can’t take your kidney’. I was devastated,” she says.
So, Bernard Óg remained on the transplant list – always hoping, always praying that a life-saving kidney may become available.
And then, late one Friday night, they got the call they had been waiting for. Thanks to the kindness of another organ donor, Bernard Óg’s was told that there was a kidney waiting for him.
“I was an emotional wreck, I was up and down the hallway crying and you’d be thinking of the other family, what they are going through. Every emotion runs through your head,” says Marieann.
After all those years, and all those miles, Bernard Óg’s transplant was a success and today he and his family can look forward to the future with hope and confidence.
Chief Executive of Temple Street Foundation, Denise Fitzgerald said they were immensely grateful to Bernard and his family for sharing their story.
“Their experience highlights the tremendous impact that your support has on Temple Street and the children in its care,” she said.
“This festive season, you can support our doctors and nurses in their vital, life-saving work by helping to fund the essential paediatric equipment that will help so many children just like Bernard,” she added.
The Keaneys readily admit they will never forget the people they met or the care they received in Temple Street. And they will always remember the incredible generosity of Temple Street’s wonderful family of donors who helped to fund so much essential equipment – like the dialysis machine that kept Bernard Óg alive for so long.
Bernard Óg will clearly never forget either. When asked what he wants to be when he grows up, the answer is clear.
“A doctor,” he says.
To support Temple Street this Christmas, visit www.templestreet.ie/donate.
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.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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
