Galway student with incurable double diagnosis vying for Miss Ireland title
One of her friends threw down a gauntlet – she should take part in the Miss Galway competition and use the platform to raise awareness about chronic pain
Erin Dunleavy was a First Year student in secondary school when she experienced a sharp pain in her hip for the first time.
It was the beginning of an odyssey of hospital appointments, meeting consultants in varying specialisations, trips to an array of physiotherapists for the Tuam student.
All told, it took three years before she finally got twin diagnoses – hyper mobility spectrum disorder and chronic regionalised pain syndrome, both of which have no cure and require constant medication to manage.
“I've been on and off strong medication for my whole teenage life,” she reveals.
"I'm doing quite well at the moment and if I'm good, I try not to take it and manage flair ups as they come, taking care of my joints – cold weather is terrible for me. It's ongoing still, I'm seeing consultants for different parts of my body as the pain has spread to different parts.”
At 22, Erin is in the final year of a marketing and sales degree at ATU (Atlantic Technology University). One of her friends threw down a gauntlet – she should take part in the Miss Galway competition and use the platform to raise awareness about chronic pain.
Last week she took the crown – and on November 21 she will be up against 32 other young women vying to take the title of Miss Ireland.
“The 'Beauty with a Purpose' part of the contest is what drew me to it. I felt I could do something that I'm passionate about, choosing Chronic Pain Ireland as the charity I want to highlight, they've been brilliant to me, they have brilliant resources," she says.
"I also wanted to use platform to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House – we're trying to raise money to prepare 150 pampers for families staying there while their children attend Crumlin's Children's Hospital.”
An estimated one in three people suffer from chronic pain in Ireland – there are no accurate figures for the number of children suffering.
“I've met so many children in hospital over the years. I was too young to see a rheumatoid arthritis, yet so many children are affected by that.”
Despite being absent from school for long periods, she managed to get into college through the support of the Disability Access Route to Education (DARE) which offers reduced CAO points places to school leavers under the age of 23 whose disabilities or significant ongoing illnesses have negatively impacted their second-level education.
She is also supported by the disability services at ATU.
“It hasn't been straight forward. I was in University of Galway first and between not liking the course and getting a flair up I had to come out of it.
"Sometimes in college you have to find what's right for you. I'm delighted where I am – the disability services have been brilliant in both places.”
She now has to really listen to her body to avoid flair-ups, which can be tough.
“If I want to go out with my friends one night, I'll have to mind myself all week. It's all about balance, which is hard to achieve, especially when you want to keep up with everyone.”
Erin hopes to become the first Galway contestant since Pamela Uba to be crowned Miss Ireland and then onto the 74th Miss World beauty pageant, which takes place in Tanzania in September 2027.
In 2003 Rosanna Davison was the only Irish entrant to ever win the contest.
To donate to the Ronald McDonald pampers, log onto the idonate website here.