We don’t keep any money raised for Zoe in our house
Parents of sick girl speak out after two attempted break-ins
THE parents of a sick two-year-old who are fundraising for life-changing surgery have been the victims of two attempted break-ins.
Last week the family of Zoe Murphy Bannon said the response to their appeal to gather €100,000 for her spinal operation had been “unbelievable”.
But her parents Eamon and Lynda said they now feel “paranoid” after their house in Dundalk, Co Louth, was targeted.
They have been forced to speak out and stress none of the money is in their home and they do not have access to it.
Eamon said: “We can’t say for definite but it’s very coincidental that twice in 10 days we have two guys attempting to get in. Our estate is very quiet and never any word of break-ins. We have lived here for six years and have never heard of any trouble.”
Last week Eamon left home to hand out buckets for a collection for Zoe, who was at home with her mum.
He told how just 15 minutes later his wife was in the kitchen and two men were getting in the sliding doors from their back garden.
Eamon said: “Lynda ran, grabbed Zoe and ran out the front door and the guys, we are assuming, hopped a wall.”
The couple confirmed last week they had reached the half-way fundraising mark for Zoe’s operation and were blown away by the support in their home town.
The youngster was born with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy which has left her with severe muscle pain. Eamon, 37, and 32-year-old Lynda are hoping to pay for a procedure called Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy which will be performed at Saint Louis Children’s Hospital, Missouri by paediatric neurosurgeon Dr TS Park.
Without the operation they have been told Zoe will struggle to walk.
However, the parents have now been forced to put a post on Facebook “to hopefully stress to
DUNDALK YESTERDAY
Eamon and Lynda with Zoe people we have no access to any of Zoe’s funds and would never keep money in the house”.
Eamon said: “With all the good publicity we were getting, we never once thought we would be opening ourselves up to bad attention.
“It’s horrible it has turned something that was going so well into something we feel we have to watch what we post about or even announce the funds we have raised, which is very sad because we now feel very paranoid about things we should be celebrating.
“We have trustees that handle the funds and we will not have access to them until we are paying Dr Parks.”
■ To donate to Zoe’s fund visit www.gofundme.com/zoemurphyappeal.
We never thought we’d be opening ourselves up to bad attention
EAMON MURPHY