Agonising wait for vital surgery
A PETITION HAS BEEN CREATED TO DEMAND A DATE FOR SURGERY FOR 20-YEAR-OLD CIAN O’NEILL WHO SUFFERS CONSTANT PAIN, WRITES MARY FOGARY
THOUSANDS of people have signed a petition demanding hip surgery for Cian O’Neill who has endured daily pain for the past three years.
Cian (20) has cerebral palsy and with no ball and socket joint in his hip, it can pop out at any time.
He was due to have the operation two years ago, while still on the children’s list, but the date clashed with his Leaving Cert and he opted to do his exams.
Two years later, is still on the waiting list, but now it’s the adult list. He is often in pain all day and throughout the night in bed. Despite his suffering, Cian volunteers at Connect Bray Neighbourhood Youth Project, for Fergal Óg GAA, and is the winner of a Wicklow Garda Youth Award.
‘I wouldn’t get out of bed some days with the pain I’m in,’ said Cian. ‘If I get a new hip it will be a new quality of life,’ said Cian. ‘Not just for me, for my whole family.’
The petition at change.org is titled ‘Give Cian a Definite Date for Hip Replacement Surgery’.
BRAY man Cian O’Neill is in urgent need of hip replacement surgery which he has been waiting for three years.
Cian (20) is a wheelchair user and he lives with cerebral palsy. With no ball and socket joint in the hip, it can just pop out at any time, causing a huge amount of suffering.‘I could be just sitting here and turn and it would just pop out,’ said Cian.
Cian is a Wicklow Garda Youth Award winner, a sports ambassador for his local GAA club and a volunteer for his local youth project.
But he lives in constant and considerable pain and discomfort due to his hip constantly dislocating, inhibiting his quality of life and often causing him to fall from his chair or not be able to get out of bed in the morning.
Adam Burke, a youth worker who has worked with Cian for several years, has established a petition calling for action.
‘We have had too many false promises of help and Cian needs a solid date for surgery and a commitment to resolve this horrible situation he has had to endure,’ said Adam. ‘Either our current Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly or indeed Simon Harris need to advocate for this young man and do everything in their power to progress his case so as to remove him from the constant pain and suffering that he endures.’
‘I’ve been in a lot of pain for the past three years,’ said Cian. ‘I always knew it was going to be an issue when I got my last one done, I always knew this was going to go.’ He was on the waiting list for the children’s hospital, and then his Leaving Cert came along two years ago. ‘ They wanted to do it that week and I said no ,’ he said. ‘I had done five years I wasn’t going to go “I don’t need the leaving cert, bye!”
‘ The orthopaedic surgeon said I would be at the top of the adult list and she’d see me in Tallaght, as I was turning 18. But then she left, so now I’m down the bottom of the adult waiting list.’
He grabs a hold of his tracksuit bottoms and lifts his leg in order to take the weight off his hip so he’s not in pain. Cian also leans right over at times to help relieve the pain. ‘A building wouldn’t be adapted for a person’s head to be a foot and a half off the side of the wheelchair,’ said Adam. ‘He finds it difficult to get around in normal circumstances, but now there are those extra hurdles.’
He is often in pain all day, and in bed at night. He manages the pain with eight paracetamol a day, and a muscle relaxant. Cian doesn’t want to take stronger pain medication as the side effects are even more detrimental to his quality of life than the pain.
‘Cian gives so much to Bray,’ said Adam. ‘He’s a volunteer here (Connect Bray Neighbourhood Youth Project at Ballywaltrim Community Centre.)
He also volunteers at Fergal Óg GAA club, where he founded hurling with both wheelchair users and others. ‘He makes sure the place is always open and there’s a point of contact,’ said Adam. ‘ That’s where he’s at in terms of community involvement but he’s been forgotten about and ignored.’
‘I wouldn’t get out of bed some days with the pain I’m in,’ said Cian. Unfortunately, he is currently not able to play hurling and can’t do so until he gets his hip done. He wants to make a future for himself in youth work, but is reluctant to go beyond volunteering at the moment, as he can’t commit to being onsite all the time.
‘He volunteers a lot here and is present a lot here and is a huge asset to the place,’ said Adam. ‘But there are days when even he goes “I cannot do this.”’
‘If I get a new hip it will be a new quality of life,’ said Cian. ‘Not just for me, for my whole family.’ He said that he has a great group of friends, who are so understanding, as are his family members.
‘One day I had to get up for a family dinner, all the family was going to be there, but I didn’t feel like that one bit. I was on very strong painkillers at the time. All I wanted to do was go to sleep.’ He feels frustrated at not being able to participate fully in life with his family, friends and work.
‘I just want answers at this point,’ said Cian. ‘I don’t care who I get them from once they’re straightforward answers.’
It was butcher Owen Redden who spurred Adam to launch the current campaign. He knows the young man well as a customer and resident of the area.
‘He came in about two weeks ago and said, what’s the story with Cian. What can we do? Should we fundraise?’
Adam agreed it was time to bring Cian’s situation to public attention.
He sat down with Cian and his mam Ciara. ‘He shouldn’t have to fundraise, so I said before we go down that road, let’s create a petition.’
Rather than getting despondent and resentful over the past few years, Cian has carried on contributing to his community. ‘Despite all those setbacks, all those awards and achievements have been in that window of disappointment to now,’ said Adam.
‘ The whole community knows Cian, but they weren’t aware until now of his story. Now is the time to get the whole community behind him and say this needs to be progressed.’
‘I have a very good group of friends,’ said Cian. ‘If I say “ah I’m not feeling like doing something today”, they’ll check in on me a number of times. They’ll ask if I’m alright and do I want to do it another day. But I feel bad saying can we do it another day.’
‘Youth work gave me opportunities to educate and inform people about disabilities,’ said Cian. ‘I get questions thrown at me and I don’t mind answering them.’
He said that he wants to be someone the team in the service can rely on to be available, without pain getting in the way.
‘If I didn’t find this love for youth work, I don’t know where I would be now to be honest.’
It began with Cian approaching Adam and asking what he could do to raise awareness for disability. One of the projects he undertook was the ‘wheelchair for a day’ initiative.
‘When I saw what I could achieve I just wanted to achieve more and more,’ he said.
He has been delighted with the outpouring of support from people, with over 2,000 signatures on the petition so far, and countless messages of encouragement.
The petition at change.org is entitled ‘Give Cian a Definite Date for Hip Replacement Surgery’.
A spokesman for Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly said he can’t comment on individual cases. In a statement the spokesman added: ‘Prior to Covid-19 Ireland had the longest waiting lists in Europe. The steps taken by the Government to deal with Covid have resulted in a marked decrease in hospital admissions but it has however also reduced the capacity of our health system. The HSE implements a system of prioritisation and all efforts are made to ensure that those who have been on waiting lists for the longest period are treated as a matter of urgency within available resources.’
I WOULDN’T GET OUT OF BED SOME DAYS WITH THE PAIN I’M IN... IF I GET A NEW HIP IT WILL BE A NEW QUALITY OF LIFE