A devoted mum whose daughter has Down’s syndrome and was left with PTSD following years of treatment for everything from a heart condition to leukaemia has praised a very special charity for making her smile. Little Ciara Foley, 11, is one of 350 people invited to a grand summer party in Coram’s Fields in north London tomorrow by Spread a Smile, which supports critically and terminally ill children in hospital by providing everything from therapy dogs to art classes, fairies and magicians.
Ciara’s former probation officer mum Deborah Foley, 53, who lives with her daughter and her partner Niamh O’Donoghue, 58, a teaching assistant, in Lewisham, south east London, says the charity was a godsend during the Covid lockdowns when they provided her with weekly Zoom magic and fairy shows, giving her welcome respite from her anxiety. Recalling how difficult it was for Ciara to understand why she was enduring intensive treatment after she was diagnosed with leukaemia, aged five, Deborah said: “Due to her Down’s Syndrome, there was just no way to explain to her what was going on.
“It would have been hard enough for any child, but we found it impossible [to help her understand what was happening. She’d just sit and rock in bed. It was horribly traumatising. As far as she was concerned, the doctors were just making her poorly. That’s why she developed what we believe to be post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from all the treatment.”
