A four-month-old Tipperary baby, who has been fighting for her life since she was born ,has been waiting for eight weeks for a vital operation at a Dublin hospital.
Abie Lawlor from Cahir suffers from severe sleep apnea, a condition which prevents her from breathing when she sleeps. She urgently requires a tracheo- tomy operation to be carried out at either Crumlin or Temple Street in Dublin.
Abie's mother, Rosemarie (21), has pleaded for a hospital bed to allow the operation to take place. The family were told two months ago that Abie would have the operation within two weeks.
Abie was born in Clonmel on March 3rd and was oxygen- dependent from birth. She was transferred immediately to Waterford Regional Hospital, where she has remained since.
"She can breathe during the day but cannot breathe at night. It's like she dies at night and comes back to us in the morning," her mother said yesterday. "Her system closes down when she sleeps, the ventilator keeps her alive at night and she is fed through a tube.
"We were told eight weeks ago that Abie needed a tracheotomy. They could not do it in Ardkeen, so we have had to wait for a bed in a Dublin hospital.
"The waiting has been an absolute nightmare. We were told it would only take two weeks, but it seems to have gone on forever now," she said.
Ms Lawlor said the operation would have to be carried out in Crumlin or Temple Street. She believed the delay in getting a date for an operation was caused by the issue of where Abie would be looked after following the operation.
The issue was raised in the Dáil last week by Independent Tipperary South TD, Mr Séamus Healy, who said he was hopeful a bed would become available in Dublin by this weekend.
"It has been a traumatic wait for the whole family," he said. "This baby should have had the operation carried out two months ago. They should not have had to wait this long."
He added that the operation could take place at either Crumlin or Temple Street and Abie would be kept in Crumlin afterwards.