The mother of a 12-year-old girl awaiting surgery for a life-threatening condition has expressed her gratitude to an anonymous benefactor who has offered to pay for a €100,000 operation in the UK which will save the girl's life.
Bernadette Kelleher said she was still in a state of shock an hour after RTÉ's Liveline presenter Joe Duffy informed her that a Dublin businessman was willing to pay for the operation.
Ann-Marie Kelleher is affected by Retts syndrome, a childhood neurodevelopment disorder that has led to scoliosis which involves severe curvature of the spine. She can no longer stand up and her lungs are under huge pressure.
Ann-Marie had been due to undergo surgery in Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin, on January 20th but on January 17th Tom and Bernadette Kelleher learned the surgery was cancelled because no paediatric anaesthetist was available.
Attempts to avail of the National Treatment Purchase Fund and the Treatment Abroad Scheme proved unsuccessful. The family were told they could be waiting up 18 months for the operation to be rescheduled.
However yesterday, a day after highlighting Ann-Marie's plight on Liveline, Mrs Kelleher was told by Joe Duffy that a Dublin businessman had been so moved by her story that he had contacted the programme.
Duffy said Liveline had checked out the offer with the UK surgeon and a firm of solicitors. "They will pay the hospital directly for the operation," he told Mrs Kelleher live on air.
Mrs Kelleher of Killavullen, Co Cork, said Dr David Harrison of the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in London was confident he could operate on Ann-Marie to reduce the curvature on her spine from 110 to 30 degrees. "I still can't believe that this man has come forward to help us," said Mrs Kelleher.