Baby Shannon was born in June 2016 and immediately transferred to Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital Crumlin where she was diagnosed with a rare and complex heart condition that will require ongoing monitoring, treatment and major surgery. She remains an inpatient in the hospital and will do so for several months to come. Shannon’s mother has stayed with her throughout her admission staying in Ronald Mc Donald House, Shannon’s Dad stayed in Dublin for the first few weeks of her life but has since returned home. He had to return to Crumlin to stay when Shannon has deteriorated on several occasions. Her dad is self -employed so obviously when he is up in Dublin there is no income for the family. Where possible he works during the week while looking after Shannon’s 2 older siblings with the assistance of extended family. Given these circumstances the family have been under huge financial pressure with the costs of travel, accommodation, expenses and the usual household bills mounting.

Important to remember this family have no choice. OLCHC is the National children’s Cardiology Specialist Centre and given Shannon’s age her parents need to remain with her as much as possible. We want to raise as much funds as possible to help support the family through this extremely tough time and show our love and support to them in the hope that it will make things a little easier to deal with. Maria, baby Shannon's mum is my cousin and as she lives in Mayo we wanted to provide a way to enable people who live away to show support for this brave and tough family as they are so well thought of across the country. Little Baby Shannon is a a little fighter and has made it so far in the last few months - with the help and support of her loving family and friends we can ensure that they continue to fight for their little girl in the coming challenging months. Your support will be so appreciated by the family.