A distraught mum has pleaded with health chiefs to prioritise her daughter's urgently-needed spinal surgery so she can finally be reunited with her family for Christmas.
Miley McKee, 12, whose complex needs have left her in constant pain, has already faced a torturous wait of over two years for a scoliosis operation.
Her parents Ann and wife Charlene, from Greystones, Co. Wicklow, had previously been informed the procedure would take place in early October at Children's Health Ireland (CHI) at Crumlin - only for medical chiefs to then cancel the operation due to a shortage of specialised nursing staff.
