Thousands of euro have been raised to help support the family of a seriously ill child in Wexford.
Sophia McMahon Egan is currently undergoing chemotherapy after doctors found a tumour on her lung just after Christmas.
The little girl’s mum and dad, Bridget and Leon, first became worried when she fell ill on Christmas Eve.
They brought her to an urgent care centre in Wexford and two days later, she was transferred to Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital in Dublin.
There, the family learned that Sophia, five, had a number of Wilms tumours, a rare form of kidney cancer.
Scans also revealed that the cancer was spreading.
Sophia was immediately started on chemotherapy. Since then, her parents have also been told that their daughter will lose a kidney and that she has a tumour on her liver and may need a transplant.
“Sophia is getting intense chemotherapy, six sessions, and once that is over she will have an operation to remove her kidney,” her mum Bridget explained to The Irish Mirror.
The treatment means the girl needs blood transfusions multiple times a week.
Sophia is still in Our Lady’s in Dublin but Bridget and Leon are hoping to bring her home as soon as possible as she’s at increased risk of infection in hospital.
The couple have appealed for help with the cost of modifying their home and travelling to and from Dublin.
Sophia has four siblings at home in Dunmain.
“We need to remodel the living room into a bedroom for her, including removal of the fireplace, replacement of flooring to make it a sterile environment,” Bridget explained on the Go Fund Me page they set up for Sophia.
“We need to purchase a hospital style bed at a cost of approximately €1500 and repainting and purchasing of new bedding and furnishings.”
At the time of writing, €4,400 had already been raised for the family.
You can visit the page and donate here.
