Please listen if a child tries to tell you they are sick
Heartbroken family’s appeal after death of 11-yr-old Darragh
A HEARTBROKEN mother whose son died from cancer has urged parents of children with special needs to listen carefully when their child says they are sick.
Colleen Mcnally, from Dundalk, was forced to say goodbye to her 11-year-old son Darragh when he contracted an aggressive form of lymphoma and died on November 24, 2019
However the mum of four is now pleading with parents to investigate all illnesses, especially if their child has limited speech.
She said: “We watched as doctors and nurses did everything to help our boy. It is the most heart-wrenching pain that I wouldn’t wish on anyone.
“Darragh’s speech was limited as part of his autism and he could only tell us that his neck and head was sick.
“He used to say my head hurts, my neck hurts or I’m tired Mammy.
“Doctors initially thought it was a viral infection and we kept him home from school.
“Then he went off his food which isn’t that strange for a child with autism but he persisted in saying he was sick so we brought him to the hospital.
“When Darragh was saying his neck hurt, he meant he had trouble breathing but couldn’t find the words to tell us.
SHATTERED
“At that stage, doctors discovered that he had an aggressive form of cancer and the tumour had all but covered his lung and was also resting on his heart, making it difficult for him to breathe.
“We were told his condition was curable but in the end it was an infection on his other lung that killed him.
“We only had Darragh for a few weeks after that before our world shattered when we had to let him go.
“He was in an induced coma so we never got to say goodbye but one of the weeks they reduced his medication and so he squeezed my hand a lot.
“We are just struggling on now for our other three children Nathan, 13, Naoise, seven, and Layla, four, who are also finding it so hard that they don’t have their brother at home anymore.
“We all managed Darragh’s behavioural issues together because they were part of who he was.
“To lose any child leaves a big impact on a family but when a family’s whole life revolves around a child with special needs, I think it makes even more of an impact.
“Looking back, I wish I had investigated more when he said he was sick and I’d urge all those parents of children with autism to listen to your child and your own gut when they are trying to tell you something.”
We only had him for a few weeks after that before our world shattered
COLLEEN MCNALLY ON LOSING HER SON DARRAGH