Galway toddler blossoms despite uphill battle – with a little help from Jack and Jill
When Geraldine Quinn brought her seven-month-old daughter Lucia to her last outpatient’s clinic, the consultant looked astonished. “He was talking to his junior and he said this is one baby I never thought I’d see here today. He just never thought she’d get this far. So, we’re obviously thrilled.”
It’s a measure of this dedicated mum how upbeat and positive she is despite the ordeal the family have endured since the birth of Lucia last February.
With no prewarning on any of the prenatal scans, Lucia was born with serious heart and lung complications along with Down Syndrome and has had to spend most of her short life in hospital.
Lucia underwent three major operations in quick succession to fix two holes in her heart and to release pressure from her tiny lungs caused by an artery which had wrapped around her trachea and oesophagus.
“It was quite complicated. She was extremely fragile. There is still some resistance to the lungs and they had to leave a flap on one of the holes in her heart but she is as well as she can be.”
During much of the lengthy period Geraldine spent in Crumlin, she saw nobody due to the Covid-19 restrictions. She only swapped places with her husband James after two months for the odd short stay in the Ronald McDonald house to spend some time with her three other children, Aurelia (9), Patrick (7) and Aidan (3).
Since coming home to Roscam on eastern outskirts of the city, the family are totally reliant on nurses provided by the Jack & Jill Children’s Foundation, which provides practical support for sick and dying children.
The Quinns are one of 22 Galway families supported by the Jack & Jill Children’s Foundation. The charity is urging members of the public to ‘go Up the Hill for Jack & Jill’ this October and climb a hill in solidarity with those families caring for a sick child every day and raise money. Just one fifth of its budged is funded by the Government.
See 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