Hello and welcome to our page. 

We are Larry & Ciara, the proud parents of a courageous little girl Éabha. As some may know we had an uncertain pregnancy with Éabha. At our 12-week ultrasound, an amazing doctor, found a rare anomaly on our scan which had the potential to lead to various health complications and a certain fact that Éabha would need surgery at some point during her childhood.

As newlyweds ready to go on our honeymoon the day after our first scan, the news was difficult to come to terms with and in fact heart-breaking.

In April 2019, our little ‘miracle baby’ as many of the nurses called her, arrived into the world screaming. The screams were a surprise to everyone in the room as the team had prepared us for the inevitable, that Éabha would need the support of a ventilator to breathe- but she didn’t. This was when she was coined ‘the miracle baby’. Éabha was immediately transferred to the Intensive Care Unit in the Rotunda Hospital where she spent her first hours before being “blue lighted” directly to CHI at Crumlin. This was extremely difficult for both Éabha and Ciara as they did not get to experience the initial mother / daughter bond after birth. Ciara would continue to spend several days recovering before she was permitted to visit our newborn daughter.

On arrival to Crumlin, Éabha was given her own room in St Peter’s Ward. The nursing staff were amazing and really put us at ease. They were so professional and helped us to be close to Éabha, even past all the medical appliances. We were fortunate that the Neonatologist who prepared us for Éabha’s arrival during our many visits to the Rotunda would continue to care for Éabha at CHI Crumlin, another testament to how CHI at Crumlin streamlines their care. Éabha only spent the first 3 weeks of her life in hospital which it in itself is a miracle. Thanks to the daily training provided to us by the Surgical team on how to care for her anomaly we were able to gain the confidence as parents to finally bring her home.

Mr Sweeney and his surgical team have continued to care for Éabha over the past 3 years and they successfully completed her necessary surgery in September this year. The surgery has been a complete success, thankfully. We were completely blown away by the care and support Éabha received during her admission from ‘toys as bribes’ on a daily basis from the nurses and support staff, to the professional and friendly approach from the doctors.

We would like to show our eternal gratitude for their continuous care over the past 3years by raising money for this amazing hospital.  We are doing a #hiketohelp in the Mourne Mountains in November, there will be a coffee morning in Armagh on November 20th and the Crosskeys Vintage Club are doing a tractor run on 11^th December 2022. All funds raised are in aid of Children’s Health Foundation, supporting Children’s Health Ireland, specifically the surgical care unit. We kindly ask that you donate what you can.

Larry & Ciara (proud parents of Éabha)