Katie Byrnes’ Dream to walk is that little bit closer following a flood of donations from the public.
Katie who was born 12 weeks premature in November 2006 after a very complicated pregnancy suffers from Spastic Deplegic Cerebral Palsy. As a result she cannot stand or walk independently.
The 7-year-old who was selected for ground breaking surgery that could see her walk unaided needed €60,000 to have the procedure carried out.
That target was reached last week allowing the Cobh girl to travel to the United States next month for the pioneering surgery.
Katies’ father Robert Byrne told the Frontpagenews.ie” in the last two weeks when our backs were against the wall, thanks to the generosity of the community at large gave us a massive help. With this operation Katie has the opportunity to do things that we take for granted. All going well she will be able to get out of bed in the morning unaided. Take steps to where she needs to be, go to the bathroom by herself, brush her teeth. The normal every day stuff.”
After Katie’s surgery she will need 7 days of physiotherapy a week which will be tailored down after 6 months. Katie’s father Robert Byrne told the Frontpagenews.ie “the hope would be that katie’s physiotherapy would end after two years. Enable Ireland can only provide two days a week physiotherapy. We are left trying to fund the remaining 5 days ourselves, which we have no problem trying to fund. The proceeds of the women’s mini marathon should help with that.”
Over 120 children currently suffer from Cerebral Palsy in East Cork.
Enable Ireland who have 40 centres in 14 counties offer a range of services to both children and adults with disabilities. The organisation is part funded through the HSE with the short fall in funds raised on a voluntary basis through local and national charity events.
According to Terry Datton Director of service in Cork and Kerry for Enable Ireland “we try and provide an equitable service. We endeavour to give all our service users the same level of treatment. We are very familiar with the needs that children like Katie face on a daily basis. Unfortunately the services we provide are limited by budget constraints.”
Mr Datton added ” the HSE are in the process of reconfiguring its services which will mean services will be provided in places closer to home for many of our users living in rural areas. This process should be in place within the next 12 months.”