Keeva lights up Christmas in midst of brave cancer battle

A brave Galway girl, who spent last Christmas in hospital battling a brain tumour, had a far more memorable task to perform this year – to turn on the lights on Gort’s huge Christmas tree.

Five-year-old Keeva Lynskey from Peterswell is still recovering from arduous cancer treatments – but she was able to put her troubles to one side to turn on the festive lights during a small, socially distant celebration last week.

When she was aged three, Keeva complained of suffering from a pain in the back of her neck. She had lost interest in activities in her crèche and had become very sleepy, recalls mom Ciara.

“The real warning signal was when she started to lose balance and was struggling on steps. Her coordination was off. We’d been to the GP and were waiting for an orthopaedic referral and I had taken her to physio and to cranial sacral therapy when things got critical with her balance and we went to the A&E (accident and emergency) at UHG (University Hospital Galway).“

A CT scan revealed Keeva had a brain tumour and she was immediately despatched to Temple Street Children’s Hospital in Dublin where she underwent surgery to remove it.

Read Keeva’s full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now.

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