| BRAVE SEAN’S FIGHT FOR LIFE
 By
Niamh Hennessy
THE parents of an Irish toddler suffering from a rare form of cancer
have appealed for help as their son awaits a life-saving operation in
London.
Two-year-old Seán O’Mahony from Cork was diagnosed with hepatoblastoma
a rare form of liver cancer just a week before Christmas.
He is now waiting to find a suitable donor so that he can travel to King’s
College Hospital in London where he will undergo the essential transplant.
Seán has already undergone six weeks of chemotherapy and has just
began his final three-week course of treatment recently.
In the meantime, his worried parents Trevor and Shenan are praying that
a suitable donor will be found so that Seán’s life-saving
operation can take place in London in a few weeks time.
Trevor said: “This transplant is essential. Seán’s
liver has to come out otherwise he won’t survive.
“The chemotherapy is very tough on him. He’s losing weight
and he has lost his hair. He’s very sick with it.”
Seán is just the fourth person to be diagnosed with the rare form
of liver cancer in Ireland in the last 10 years.
Hepatoblastoma usually affects children up to the age of five.
When doctors diagnosed the condition in December the cancer had spread
to the brave little boy’s lymph nodes and lungs, but six weeks of
chemotherapy has reduced the size of the tumour on his liver to enable
doctors to perform the liver transplant necessary for Seán to survive.
Medical staff will make a decision whether to perform the transplant when
Seán has finished his final three-week course of chemotherapy.
If a suitable donor cannot be found Trevor or Shenan will donate a piece
of their own liver to their son.
Shenan said: “It’s a very serious operation, but hopefully
all will go well.
“We’re lucky. He’s been sick, but he has good days as
well.”
One of Trevor’s work colleagues Ken Curtain said: “They’re
just after buying a house in Mallow and Shenan had to give up work to
become a full-time carer. It’s a strain on them.”
Donations can be made to the Seán O’Mahony fund can be made
to the Cork branch of permanent tsb, account number 87818004; sort code
99-07-13.
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