Martin family reaches target
RATHNEW FAMILY ISSUES HEARTFELT THANKS AFTER PUBLIC RAISES €250,000
THE GENEROSITY of the people of Wicklow and further afield has helped the Martin family from Rathnew reach their fundraising target to fund their youngest son’s clinical trials in Italy in a bid to stop the progress of a rare genetic illness he has been diagnosed with and help improve the quality of his life.
Within three months of setting up their appeal, Leslie and Lynda Martin posted a heartfelt thanks to the people of Wicklow and beyond, who have lent their support in this toughest of times, on their ‘Cogs and Kiwi’ Facebook page.
Leslie and Lynda Martin began their campaign back in March to raise €250,000 to cover all the costs involved for the clinical trials, having learned that both of their two young sons, Cathal (3) and Ciaran (1) had a rare genetic illness with no known cure.
Last December, Cathal was diagnosed with Metachromatic Leukodystrophy (MLD) and in February the family was dealt a further blow when they found out that their youngest son Ciaran suffers from the same condition.
MLD attacks the nervous system and Cathal has gone from a fully healthy little boy to almost completely paralyzed within 18 months.
Sadly, the diagnosis came too late for Cathal and his condition is now terminal.
However, Leslie and Lynda, who are also parents to Holly, immediately sought to get Ciaran included on a clinical trial in Italy, where he has been receiving treatment since March 7.
‘As a family, we want to send huge thank you to everyone who has dug so deep to help us out in our time of need,’ the Martin family said in their Facebook post.
‘We have now gathered our fund target and hope that it will be enough to carry us through the rest of this ordeal,’ they wrote.
Ciaran has now finished the main part of his treatment and now they must wait and see how well it goes. The family will have to remain in Italy for some time yet and bring him back regularly for the next two year and then every six months for the rest of his life so that his condition can be monitored.
‘All this is not a cure for the condition he has but hopefully within the coming months the treatment will stop the progress of the disease and he will have a good quality of life. Our hope is that it hasn’t affected his brain yet and that he will learn to walk on his own and have the independence he needs to enjoy a full life,’ the family wrote.
Sadly, the news is not so good for Cathal who ‘continues to get weaker’. He is due to return to Ireland to have a peg feed installed in his stomach to, hopefully, make life a bit easier for him.
‘He will be glad to escape the heat here for a while and he’ll be happier around his grandparents, aunties, uncles, cousins and friends,’ his parents wrote.
‘Again, we are truly grateful to so many of you who have backed us up in so many ways and although this story was never going to have a happy ending for us we will continue to try our best for the lads,’ they said.