My world fell apart when Darragh was diagnosed... Barretstown was a lifeline
mum-of-two said hospital became the new normal.
She added: “We were in ICU four times, in hospital every week for almost four years.
“His immune system was shot to smithereens. He got infection after infection, sepsis, candidiasis.
“He had no soldiers to fight it. These were the side effects of the chemotherapy drugs. It was so tiring for him, it knocked his socks off, I just wanted to take his pain away.
“It seems really cruel. I lost my faith in everything, but I got it back as he’s fine now, there’s always light at the end of the tunnel.
“But it just seems cruel for a child to have to go through, who hasn’t lived his life, they say karma but this is a c h i l d . During Covid he
never got sick because we were in our own bubble, so Covid was a positive thing for us.”
Treatment took more than three years, after which the family began to see light at the end of the tunnel.
Sharon explained: “The final stage is maintenance a lot gentler for two years, so he doesn’t have the heavy hitters like he used to have before the big heavy chemo drugs that I had to give him every night.
“They need to suppress their immune system because then the leukaemia can’t come back.”
Darragh is now six, after a gruelling journey to recovery, Sharon’s lasting emotion is one of gratitude.
She said: “The medical teams are amazing.
“Nobody knows if it will come back, you can drive yourself crazy looking at statistics.
“But I live in the moment now, I tortured myself for so long.
“We’re hoping this is the cross we’ve had to bear and that it’s done now.”
Darragh got to visit magical Barretstown
with his seven-year-old brother Jacob this November, a trip they will never forget.
Sharon said: “This is why Barretstown is so wonderful because they have a medical unit there.
“So it alleviates the worry that parents have.
“If you want to go on a holiday, it takes away all the pressure of worrying if the child will get a temperature because the medical units are there, it’s incredible.
“The hospital was asking us if we had been to Barretstown and they kept telling us we needed to go there.
“We went a few weeks ago, it’s like this magical oasis in the Kildare countryside.
“Barretstown only gets two per cent Government funding, all the proceeds they get from their Christmas Flahavan’s reindeer food goes directly to the charity. We did horse riding and archery and all the things we couldn’t do as family when Darragh was sick, it was great for his brother Jacob too.
“We shared a cottage with another lovely family. “Barretstown gave Darragh his confidence back, it’s just like a normal holiday camp, there’s no sickness and so much fun.
“Kids are wonderful as they live in the moment, they’re our life’s teachers.”
The family got their Christmas wish, a special holiday at Barretstown.
Sharon said: “It’s our Christmas wish to be healthy as a family, we are so grateful for the power of health now.
“Barretstown is magic personified, a wonderland.”
Visit barretstown.org/christmas
It’s our Xmas wish to be healthy, we are grateful for the power of health