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BreakingNews.ie
14 minutes ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Mum of boy with debilitating condition denied SNA says she is 'not giving up without fight'
A Meath family is locked in a heart-wrenching battle to secure vital school support for their five-year-old son just two weeks before he is due to start junior infants. Melissa Mahon (39 from Dunsany), says she is 'not giving up without a fight' for her son Kian (5), who was born with a rare and incurable condition that has left him incontinent and reliant on help when going to the toilet. Advertisement Kian is due to start school at Dunsany National School at the end of August, but his application for access to a Special Needs Assistant (SNA) was denied last year. His family has spent months appealing the decision through the National Council for Special Education (NCSE), but with just weeks to go, they still do not know if the appeal has been successful. 'We have done everything, and I'm not giving up without a fight for him, because he's just been to hell and back," said Melissa. "The hospital has said that we've kept him alive for five and a half years. We just need that little bit of help to go to school, because he deserves an education, and we really want him to be a normal little boy.' Melissa warns that even if the NCSE grants the SNA now, it may already be too late. Advertisement 'Kian is incontinent and needs help going to the toilet but he doesn't know the person who might be assisting him with this. It's a deeply personal and sensitive thing for a little boy,' she explained. 'You can't just parachute someone in last minute and expect a child with complex needs to be okay with it. We've been asking for help for over a year and now we're staring down the first day of school with no plan in place. 'If the SNA doesn't come through, I'll have to be on standby to come into the school myself. That's not sustainable, and it's not fair on him or the teachers.' Despite his medical needs, Melissa says Kian is a bright, outgoing child who is desperate to start school like all his friends. Advertisement 'He's so excited about school. He's been trying on his uniform every other day. But how do we explain to him that no one is going to be there to help him go to the toilet? 'It's the basics. It's about dignity and the system is failing him.' The NCSE denied the family's original request for SNA hours last year, and while an appeal has been lodged, Melissa says they have been left in complete limbo. 'We've done everything, letters, medical reports, specialist input and we're still in the dark with just weeks to go.' Advertisement Kian was born on in 2020, during the height of the Covid 19 pandemic. But his journey into the world was anything but ordinary. Before Kian, Melissa suffered six devastating miscarriages over five years, including one at five months, and had been told she would never conceive again. Diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, she and her partner Mark Gaughan had given up hope of ever becoming parents when, in the summer of 2019, Melissa discovered she was pregnant. 'He was our miracle. After all the heartbreak, we couldn't believe he was really here,' Melissa recalls. Advertisement 'He was perfect, but within hours he started vomiting his feeds and hadn't passed a stool. By the next night, he was in intensive care.' Kian was transferred to Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin, where a biopsy revealed he had been born with Hirschsprung's disease, a rare congenital condition that affects just 1 in 5,000 babies. It meant parts of his bowel were missing essential nerve cells, making it impossible for him to pass waste normally. 'We were devastated. After everything we had been through, our miracle baby was now fighting for his life.' In July 2020, Kian underwent a major pull through surgery to remove the affected part of his bowel. The five hour operation was successful, but the journey was far from over. Despite the surgery, Kian continued to suffer from dangerous bowel blockages and complications. In 2022, at just two years old, he became seriously ill after developing severe abdominal pain and vomiting — a result of waste not moving properly through his digestive system. 'He became dangerously sick in 2022. It was a terrifying time,' Melissa said. 'We nearly lost him again. It was at that point the hospital decided to go a different route.' Doctors injected Botox into his bowel to deliberately induce incontinence , relaxing the muscles enough to allow stool to pass freely without getting trapped. 'That decision saved his life. But it means he's fully incontinent now. It was a medical choice to protect him from something fatal but it has consequences,' Melissa explained. 'That's why he absolutely needs support in school. This isn't something he can control or manage on his own. We didn't choose this for him. It was done to keep him alive.' Melissa says the emotional toll of Kian's early years and the daily demands of managing his condition have been enormous, but now the biggest battle is against the bureaucracy that is supposed to help children like hers. 'I've already fought to keep him alive. Now I'm having to fight so he can go to school with dignity and support? It's not right.' 'We're not asking for the world. We're asking for one person to help our son go to the toilet.' In a twist no one saw coming, Melissa and Mark welcomed another miracle baby in 2024 — Ella, now ten months old. 'We never thought we'd be parents once, let alone twice. Ella was a complete surprise. But with a baby at home and Kian needing full time care, it's been overwhelming.' As the school start date looms, Melissa fears the system has already failed Kian and that no matter what decision the NCSE makes, it will be 'too little, too late.' 'Even if we get the SNA now, there's no time to build the trust Kian needs. A stranger helping him go to the toilet isn't something he can just accept on day one.' 'He's been through more in five years than most adults. But he's never given up. He's a miracle, a fighter, and the happiest child you'll ever meet,' Melissa says. 'He deserves a normal life. He deserves to go to school. He deserves to be treated like every other child. We just need that little bit of help.' The NCSE and Dunsany NS has been approached for comment.
Wales Online
14 minutes ago
- Wales Online
Speed of improvement in cancer survival rates ‘slowing', say experts
Speed of improvement in cancer survival rates 'slowing', say experts The news comes as a study suggests survival between the most and least deadly types of the disease is wider than ever before. (Image: PA) Progress in cancer survival rates in the UK has "slowed down", experts have warned. The news comes as a study suggests survival between the most and least deadly types of the disease is wider than ever before. A national cancer plan was "essential" to "bring cancer survival trends back towards the best in the world", researchers said. The study, led by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and funded by Cancer Research UK, analysed long-term trends in the cancer survival index (CSI) for adults across England and Wales from 1971 to 2018. Using records from the National Disease Registration Service for England and the Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit, experts estimated net survival for up to 10 years after diagnosis for around 10.8 million people. They found that in 2018, the CSI for all cancers combined a decade after diagnosis was 49.8%, higher than the CSI at one year for those diagnosed in 1971/72. Researchers hailed the figure as "remarkable", but warned that the "speed of improvement in survival has slowed down". In the five years from 2000/01 to 2005/06, the 10-year CSI rose by 4%, from 41.2% to 45.2%. But between 2010/11 and 2015/16, the rise was 1.4%, from 47.9% to 49.3%. There were also major gaps in survival when it came to different cancer types. For example, 10-year survival for testicular cancer was 97%, compared with 4.3% for pancreatic cancer. Screening programmes had bolstered survival rates for cancers in the breast, bowel and cervix, according to Cancer Research UK. But survival for other types, such as stomach, lung and brain cancer, had increased by only a small amount in the past 50 years. Writing in the Lancet Regional Health – Europe, researchers warned this slowdown for individual cancers implied a "system-wide challenge". Michelle Mitchell, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, said: "Thanks to research, most patients today are far more likely to survive their cancer than at any point in the past. "But the reality is that this progress is slowing – and for some cancers, it never got going in the first place." The Government launched a call for evidence to help shape a national cancer plan in February. The blueprint aims to outline actions to transform how the disease is treated in a bid to reduce deaths. Ms Mitchell said: "The upcoming National Cancer Plan for England must include commitments to spot more cancers earlier, as well as backing research into new treatments so that each patient, regardless of their diagnosis, can hope for more moments with the people they love." Michel Coleman, a professor of epidemiology and statistics at LSHTM, said: "Since I began my career in cancer research, I've seen substantial increases in survival for most types of cancer. "Our understanding of cancer biology has expanded, effective screening programmes have been introduced, and new treatments have been developed. Allowing this trend to stall will have devastating consequences. "This study was only possible because of data on millions of patients from cancer registries in England and Wales. "It's vital that the Government provides the political and financial support to ensure we maintain this crucial data. Without these, the Government will be flying blind on cancer control. "The National Cancer Plan is a chance to improve NHS cancer pathways and reap the benefits of new research – the Government must take it." Cancer Research UK is calling for the national cancer plan to slash waiting times for diagnosis and treatment, saying some patients face unacceptable delays. The plan should also improve early diagnosis of cancer, with plans to boost participation in existing screening programmes and a commitment to rolling out lung cancer screening fully in England by 2029. A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "We are prioritising cancer care as we turn around more than a decade of neglect of our NHS. Article continues below "We're already seeing progress, with 95,000 more people having cancer diagnosed or ruled out within 28 days between July 2024 and May 2025, compared to the same period the previous year. "The National Cancer Plan will set out how we will improve survival rates further and address the variation between different cancer types."
Metro
15 minutes ago
- Metro
Second person dies after eating toxic sandwich during botulism outbreak
Two people are now confirmed dead after eating broccoli and sausage sandwiches from an Italian food truck. 45-year-old Tamara D'Acunto is confirmed to have died after undergoing treatment in intensive care for botulism from lunch. Musician Luigi Di Sarno, 52, also died after buying the sandwich from a kiosk in Diamante, Calabria, in southern Italy. More than 17 people are in hospital, prompting the Public Prosecutor's Office to seize the jars of broccoli from the business. Cases of the rare and life-threatening disease were found in other Italian regions. Botulism is a rare and sometimes life-threatening disease caused by toxins produced by the clostridium botulinum bacteria. Historically contracted due to improperly canned food, the toxins attack the nervous system, leading to muscle paralysis. More recently in the UK, patients were diagnosed with botulism linked to unlicensed anti-wrinkle injections. Symptoms include blurred vision, fatigue and difficulties breathing. Around 5 to 10 per cent of cases are fatal, according to the NHS. Because a majority of doctors have never encountered it, initial misdiagnosis is not uncommon. It came as Roberta Pitzalis, 38, died from complications after eating a guacamole from a stand at a gastronomic festival in Cagliari, Sardinia. According to La Repubblica, her condition had appeared to stabilise before she suddenly deteriorated. More Trending An 11-year-old boy who also attended the Monserrato Latina festival and had eaten a taco with guacamole, was transferred by helicopter to Rome's Gemelli hospital. He remains in a stable condition but has yet to make a recovery. Authorities in Cagliari have launched an investigation into the outbreak. Experts are advising people to exercise caution when buying risky foods and avoid eating canned or jarred products where the safety button has popped up, indicating the container has not been properly sealed. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Urgent recall of supermarket cheese over deadly Listeria bacteria fears MORE: Italy's 'best-kept secret' is the home of Tiramisù and just 30 minutes from Venice MORE: Houses destroyed and thousands evacuated after wildfires rage across Europe
