A mother who lost her toddler son to leukaemia has made an appeal for blood donors to help fight the cancer.
Lyndsay McKenna’s little boy Fionn died in May 2019, aged two and a half, after spending most of his short life in hospital care.
Blood donations were crucial in allowing little Fionn - who went on to have a bone marrow transplant - have more time with his beloved family.
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Said Lyndsay: ”Fionn had over 30 transfusions in all for red blood cells, platelets and plasma and when he got them, he got energy and we got another day with him.
“They were our lifeline and I would ask everyone to please just give the simple gift of life in giving the simple gift of blood”,
The mother of two from Drogheda, Co Louth says there are no words to describe the loss of a child. She gets the strength to fight on each day for the sake of her family and her one-year-old son Tiernan.
Fionn was born on October 4th, 2016, weighing a healthy 8lb eight ounces and although there were no big warning flags, Lyndsay just felt something was wrong as the months ticked by.
“In July 2018, he had stopped babbling and had gone off his food. He was difficult to waken from his nap and was sweat soaked, which we attributed to the really hot summer. But I wanted him checked out.”
Blood tests at Our Lady’s Hospital in Crumlin showed Fionn had Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) and had to get an infusion of platelets into his spine, followed by almost three weeks of chemotherapy before being sent home for treatment at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.
Fionn was placed on a live register for a bone marrow transplant and as his parents and family were incompatible, a donor was found in a 19 year old German teenager.
“He had ten days of radical chemotherapy to wipe out his immune system, which was very hard on him.
“He had the transplant on December 22nd and on Christmas morning, he was up playing with his toys on the ward. It was a success and he reached the 100
day milestone which is normally a good sign “However by day 102, Fionn relapsed. Eventually, there was nothing more that could be done and we brought him home for his last days with the help of the Palliative Care team, Laura Lynn Foundation, family and friends.
“ My mam always asks how did I know he was going to pass. But I knew to take him in my arms when he was born so I knew when to take him in my arms when he was about to die.”
Fionn passed away on May 29th, 2019, aged just two and a half “He died in my arms. For about 15 seconds, there was profound peace and then our world tumbled.
“Sometimes you want to be annoyed but you’ve no-one to be annoyed with because the care he got in the hospitals was second to none.
“People say to me that they don’t know how I keep going. I’m no better than the mother who stays in bed all day, crippled with grief and thoughts.
I move to keep my brain busy “I’m not a widow or an orphan but there is no word to describe me or my husband Jay or anyone who has lost a child.
“Before we were blessed with another little boy, people didn’t know to call me mammy but I am a mammy. Only my arms were empty and they still are empty of one precious child.
“It’s uncharted territory.
“Tiernan and he is 14 months now and he will always know about his brother and I will always be a mam of two.
“We have a ‘Fionny’s birthday wise fund and each year instead of flowers for Fionn’s grave, we ask for donations to give to charity on his birthday.
“Everytime I buy something for Tiernan, I pop a little donation into Fionn’s fundt, which helps me cope.”
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