‘Bryan, 11, has been let down by the HSE.. Dr Google is my only help’
Mother seeking extra support for boy left brain damaged by sepsis
THE mum of a boy who suffered brain damage by sepsis has blasted the lack of HSE support, saying he was left in a buggy in school as no safe seat was available.
Bryan Mccullough, who was born healthy, was left seriously ill by sepsis at the age of four in 2017.
This resulted in him fighting for his life and now, seven years on he suffers from cerebral palsy, can no longer walk or talk and has to be peg fed as he risks choking.
Speaking from her home in Drogheda, Co Louth, mum Grainne said: “Bryan was born a healthy baby and was healthy and active until age four when he became ill with sepsis.
“He has been left brain damaged and disabled as a result.
“And I have been fighting for everything for him but I still haven’t got anything for my son, who has an acquired brain injury for the rest of his life.”
She added Bryan is generally a happy, smiley boy who communicates in his own way. Grainne said: “He doesn’t get any speech and language therapy, doesn’t get any physiotherapy. He needs to see a neurologist, he needs to see a dentist.
“He got an appointment as an outpatient but he needs to be sedated for a dentist to examine him as he won’t open his mouth for them.
“There is so much more he needs but we haven’t been getting any of it.”
Grainne also said Bryan attends a special school at St Mary’s in Drumcar where he is “thriving”.
She added: “But he had to sit in a buggy in his classroom for four years as we only got a proper seat for him from the HSE earlier this year through Tulsa. If it wasn’t for Tulsa I’d be invisible.” Grainne said it was only last year when she received a safety bed, walker and hoist for her son from the HSE through Tulsa but up until that he was sharing a bed with her.
She admitted she fears that because Bryan hasn’t been receiving any of the therapies and services he needs, she won’t know how to handle him when he becomes a teenager. Grainne added: “I need the peace of mind that he will get the help he needs.
“He will be a teenager in a few years and I won’t know how to help him or handle him with his hormones. Dr Google is my only help.
“But his needs are not being met. I am fighting for everything but still have nothing for my son.
“I am frustrated at the lack of support from the HSE.”
The HSE said: “We cannot comment in detail on individual cases when to do so might reveal information in relation to identifiable individuals, breaching the ethical requirement on us to observe our duty of confidentiality.
“A member of the client’s team would be happy to discuss any aspect of the client’s care directly with them or their family members.”
In 2018, Grainne was forced to fundraise for Bryan, then aged five, for his medical needs.
She set up a Gofundme page where MMA star Conor Mcgregor made a donation of €10,000 which she said “made our dreams come true in so many ways,” helping with medical needs.
He doesn’t get any speech and language therapy GRAINNE MCCULLOUGH ON SON BRYAN’S NEEDS