I'll tell Taoiseach it just isn't good enough, says sister of boy who now needs TWO ops hellish scoliosis surgery wait
THE family of a boy who has been left waiting so long for scoliosis surgery that he now needs two ops instead of one have vowed to tell the Taoiseach: 'This just isn't good enough.'
4
Daniel Collins lives in agony after being diagnosed with scoliosis back in 2023
Credit: Domnick Walsh
4
Daniel's needs two ops on the 80 degree curve in his back
He also suffers from mild
Mum Louise and dad Dave last month revealed Daniel's scoliosis has progressed so much that he will now need two ops on the 80 degree curve in his back.
A petition to help the teen has amassed almost 5,000 signatures.
And the family have promised to bring the issue before the Dail in a matter of weeks.
Read more on Scoliosis
Daniel's sister Allanna told
'We've been in contact with a few politicians now, we're trying to figure out the process. We're hoping to do it in the next week or two.
'The hope is we will be able to speak for ourselves. The Taoiseach and the Minister for Health are who we want to talk to.
'We've gone back and watched what the Taoiseach has said about not only Daniel's case but the whole scoliosis scandal. I would
Most read in The Irish Sun
like to respond to him saying 'that is just not good enough'.
'When he talks about Daniel's case he seems so out of touch, he needs to choose his words a bit better.
'This is a child that he's talking about, someone whose job it is for the Government to protect. There are so many kids on so many waiting lists. They're not just statistics, these are some of the most vulnerable kids in the country.
Joanna Keogh pleads for help as daughter Hannah with spina bifida suffering health hell over waiting list delays
'We are going to go up. It's not a case of if, it's just a case of when.'
The Irish Sun started its
Allanna said the family hoped for a surgery date when they travelled to
She explained: 'There was a meeting two weeks ago where we were told they were going to discuss Daniel's case, and a possible surgery date. They said they had marked Daniel as semi-urgent in February 2024, which we didn't know about, and then urgent in August 2024.
'So that's 15 months where he's semi-urgent and he still hasn't got any surgery. To get nothing out of it, it was a kick in the teeth.
'Daniel has mild autism so he processes a lot of things differently, finding out when surgery would be, you have a clear timeline, you're able to explain to him in advance what's going to happen. He's confused. The last appointment we had, Daniel said to the surgeon 'my back is sore, can you please fix my back'?
'For the last year or so, the progression of scoliosis, it's scary.
'He really doesn't have much of a quality of life, he just goes to school and comes home. He's just confined to the couch now with pillows on either side of him, trying to find some comfort, but there is none.
'We don't have any more time.'
Our Kids Can't Wait Campaign
WAITING lists in Ireland have long been a national disgrace.
More than 106,000 children are on hospital waiting lists for all treatments. However, a new source of shame has emerged as 327 children wait for life changing spinal surgeries.
Their conditions are getting worse while they languish on waiting lists.
Such are the delays, many child patients will be outside the therapeutic window when their treatments are approved.
Earlier this month, the Seanad heard how at least one child has become permanently paralysed since the issue was raised publicly before Christmas.
Their plight has been spearheaded by campaigning Senator Tom Clonan, who himself has a child with a disability.
Former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has even admitted that the health service is failing these kids.
Children are being allowed to deteriorate due to mismanagement, which has allowed the waiting lists to grow.
The Irish Sun's Kids Can't Wait campaign aims to shine a light on how the State is failing sick children and give their families a voice.
It will also force the Government to do something to clear the backlog of operations and give these children a chance of living a normal life.
He said: 'Other people in Ireland get the surgeries they need, disabled children are not.
'The price of all of this is being paid by Daniel and his little body, his lungs, his heart. This is unacceptable in a developed country.'
And
She told us: 'To not be given any care date is really soul destroying, for him and his family.'
When contacted, CHI said it cannot comment on individual cases.
4
Mum Louise and dad Dave were hoped for a surgery date when they travelled to Cork for an appointment last week - but sadly did not get one
Credit: Domnick Walsh
4
The family have promised to bring the issue before the Dail in a matter of weeks
Credit: Domnick Walsh
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sunday World
4 days ago
- Sunday World
Government has ‘systematically smashed' disability laws for children, teen tells Oireachtas
Cara Darmody, 14, addressed the Oireachtas Disability Committee on Wednesday about the backlog in the assessment of need (AON) system. Campaigner Cara Darmody staged a 50-hour protest against the backlog in the assessment of needs system (Liam McBurney/PA) The Government has "systematically smashed" disability laws on important checks for children, a teenage campaigner has told the Oireachtas. Cara Darmody, 14, addressed the Oireachtas Disability Committee on Wednesday about the backlog in the assessment of need (AON) system. An AON is carried out to identify if a child, children or young person has a disability, and is designed to identify their health needs as well as service requirements. Once the HSE receives an application, there is a legal requirement for the AON to be completed within six months. On the possibility of changes to the laws being in train, Cara said she would "vigorously resist any negative change" to the six-month timeframe, saying she believed it would cause "further permanent damage to children". The total number of applications overdue for completion at the end of March 2025 stood at 15,296, an 8% rise on the end of 2024. Throughout the first quarter of this year, just 7% of assessments were completed within the timeframes set out in the Disability Act 2005 and accompanying regulations. The HSE said that demand for AONs continues to outstrip system capacity, despite increases in activity and commissions from private assessors. The health service anticipates that by the end of the year there could be as many as 24,796 AONs due for completion. Opposition parties including Sinn Féin, Labour, Social Democrats, People Before Profit-Solidarity, Independent Ireland and Aontu have supported Cara's campaign. Last month she staged a 50-hour protest outside Leinster House. She was initially motivated to pursue her advocacy because her two brothers have autism and severe/profound intellectual disabilities. Speaking at Committee, Cara said: "My own story is very simple, I have two brothers Neil, 12, and John, eight, who are autistic and severely and profoundly intellectually disabled. "They were both failed dramatically by the state in relation to assessments and services, and Neil remains in an inappropriate school place. "Our story is the story of so many thousands of other families. I cannot do anything to change the permanent damage caused to Neil and John, but I can advocate to stop damage being done to autistic children in the future." She said Taoiseach Micheal Martin and the wider Government are breaking the law over the delivery of AONs. Campaigner Cara Darmody staged a 50-hour protest against the backlog in the assessment of needs system (Liam McBurney/PA) News in 90 Seconds - June 11th "Three different taoisigh have made promises to me to fix this issue, and all have dramatically failed." She added: "Let me explain how they're breaking the law. The Disability Act of 2005, an Act created by this House, states that an assessment of need must be carried out within six months, full-stop. "That six-month timeframe is there because every single person knows that early intervention is the key. "It's also generally accepted that when early intervention doesn't occur, that damage is caused to children with disabilities. It's a no-brainer." Cara said she was shocked that Mr Martin would not declare a national emergency over the matter. She said the Taoiseach should also set up a taskforce to address the matter, and increase financing for "Cara's Fund".
Irish Examiner
4 days ago
- Irish Examiner
Disability activist Cara Darmody claims law being broken as children 'left to rot' on waiting lists
A schoolgirl who has held protests outside the Dáil for better autism services has claimed the Government is "blatantly" breaking the law and "permanently damaging children". Cara Darmody, who recently held a 50-hour protest at the gates of Leinster House as part of her years-old campaign, told TDs children are being 'left to rot' on HSE waiting lists to get assessed. She said that an Assessment of Need (AoN) must be carried out within six months. Addressing an Oireachtas committee in the Dáil, she said in 93% of cases, children are assessed outside the six-month timeframe. Under the Disability Act 2005, the HSE is legally obliged to have a child's special needs assessed within six months but it has repeatedly failed to do this over the past 20 years. Among those affected by special needs resourcing issues are her two severely autistic brothers, Neil — a 12-year-old who was only formally diagnosed as autistic in December 2016 despite being referred by a public health nurse when he was aged around 16 months to local HSE child services as a child of concern — and John. Cara told members of the Joint Committee on Disability Matters: 'I cannot do anything to change the permanent damage caused to Neil and John. 'But I can advocate to stop damage being done to autistic children in the future. Let's cut straight to the chase — I'm here today to call out the blatant Assessments of Needs law-breaking by the Taoiseach and the Government. 'Three different Taoisigh have made promises to me to fix this issue, and all have dramatically failed.' Cara, from Tipperary, raised this among other issues when she met Simon Harris when he was taoiseach last year on the first day of protest vigils she held outside the Dáil and the Taoiseach's Office last summer. The teenager met Micheál Martin in 2022 when he was taoiseach, and also lobbied him to put more resources into special needs assessments and therapies. Cara, who got 97% in her Junior Cert maths in 2022 to help raise awareness and €82,000 in funding for better services for autism locally and nationally, also lobbied Leo Varadkar, when he was taoiseach. Her father Mark told the committee that despite raising the issues with Mr Martin again recently and trying to get him to declare a national emergency on the lack of special needs assessments and therapies, he said: 'He doesn't buy into this emergency. He said it was just words.' He added: 'We are sleepwalking into a disaster." Read More Family of Clare boy killed by van challenge decision to bring no charges over death
Irish Times
4 days ago
- Irish Times
The Irish Times view on tackling child poverty: if not now, when?
The latest report on child poverty in Ireland from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) will not come as a surprise to anyone familiar the issue. But it deserves careful consideration by the Government as it embarks on its pre-budget discussions. The ESRI notes that the importance of tackling child poverty, which research shows has deeply negative consequences, including lower education, earnings, health and wellbeing in adulthood, as well as immediate and highly detrimental effects on the experience of childhood itself. Children disproportionately suffer poverty in Ireland, more than any other age cohort. The new research examines how effective current child-related benefits are at reducing child poverty. It finds that, taken together, in-cash and in-kind benefits lift 157,000 children out of income poverty, with 45,000 lifted out of material deprivation and 94,000 out of consistent poverty – defined as living in a household with a disposable income less than 60 per cent of median national income. It considers the merits of introducing an additional second tier of child benefit, while noting that such a policy would need to be designed carefully to ensure that no household loses out as a result. And it recommends that recent measures such as the introduction of free school meals and free school books should be fully integrated into future reports to give a more complete picture. With Government Ministers currently dampening expectations of any more universal one-off payments, the question of child poverty becomes even more acute: households at the lowest income levels are most vulnerable to cost-of-living pressures. They will continue to require support if they are not to suffer material deprivation and its consequences, including hunger. The ESRI concludes that, of all the policy options available, a second, means-tested child benefit payment would be the most cost-effective way to achieve substantial reductions in the rate of child poverty. READ MORE If now is not the time to heed this advice, then when?
