Parents of a one-year-old Co Tyrone boy having to travel to the US every two months for treatment for scoliosis have said they have been overwhelmed by the support of local people.
Jamie McGoldrick from Clanabogan, near Omagh, was diagnosed with the condition having also had a tumour in his heart in the early months of his life.
Progressive infantile scoliosis affects young children and leads to a curve in the spine, causing further health complications and in some cases can be fatal.
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Jamie’s dad Benny and mother Teresa have been helped by relatives to set up a fundraising appeal for their trips to a specialist facility in Philadelphia to treat Jamie, which has seen over £10,000 donated so far.
“Jamie was born premature and during one of the scans they noticed that had a wee tumour in his heart," Benny told MyTyrone.
“He’s constantly being reviewed for that and we are in the Royal every six weeks for them to check up on him.
“There was that much going on at that time but we were also told when he was born that he had scoliosis, but that he would grow out of it.
“It wasn’t then until one of our consultants actually said to us that he was not going to grow out of the scoliosis, and he had to be referred.
“After we were referred we realised the length of the waiting lists here for him to be looked at, it confirmed to us that we needed to look at other options like going to America.
“We had to do something and do it very quickly, they just don’t have the capabilities here to deal with it properly.”
Jamie and family have had their first trip to the Schriners hospital in Philadelphia, and must return every eight to twelve weeks.
Benny said the first trip cost around £5,000 and would place a significant financial burden on the family, so a relative decided to set up the fundraising appeal.
Benny added: “People’s generosity is just overwhelming at times and you just don’t imagine it taking off so quickly.
“We are so grateful to people, they are so good especially in the times we are in. I just can’t thank people enough for that.
“We don’t know how many trips we might have to make, it’s all up in the air at this stage.”
Jamie’s dad says the 17 month old has been taking it all in his stride, but it has been a challenging time for the family
“He’s almost that used to hospitals at this stage, he’s adjusted to it fairly well now and is taking it all in his stride.
“You have to keep thinking positive and keep going, but it does be overwhelming at times.
“What else can we do? We just have to keep pushing on with these things, the end goal is to make him better and I think we have an opportunity to do that now that we are going to America.”
If you wish to donate to Jamie’s fundraising appeal you can visit the family’s GoFundMe page here.
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