Raising the bar for baby Bella Rose
BALLYMURN MOTHER HAS COME UP WITH A NOVEL WAY OF FUNDRAISING FOR HER YOUNGEST DAUGHTER
A COUNTY Wexford mum of three has praised the Jack & Jill Children’s Foundation for its vital support following the birth of her daughter Bella Rose who is facing open heart surgery later this month.
Bekki Furlong, from Ballymurn, is now fund raising with a difference for the foundation which has been a godsend to her over the months since Bella Rose came home.
The latest to come on board to help the funding campaign are prisoners and staff at Cloverhill Prison.
‘Bella Rose was born in June with a lot of health issues. She had a congenital heart defect which requires open heart surgery in the next few weeks to repair and stop heart failure. She also has a bilateral cleft lip and palate, misformed chromosome 7, and heretortaxy syndrome (which makes her unique and one of a kind),’ said Bekki.
She said Bella Rose is fed through a tube down her nose and because of this she spent her first six weeks in hospital in Dublin and Wexford. During that time, her sisters Siobhan, Denise and Ann Marie stepped in to look after her other children ‘throughout all’.
Now that Bella Rose is home she requires 24 hour care and monitoring – enter the jack & Jill Foundation.
‘The Jack & Jill Foundation stepped in from the first week I got her home to help me and provide me with a nurse to mind Bella Rose so I can either sleep, bring her brother Patrick (18 months) and sister Molly (8 years old) out somewhere or prepare for one of her many appointments in Dublin.
‘What this charity has done for me and my family is amazing and I can’t thank them enough,’ said Bekki.
‘But everything comes at a price, so I want to raise funds so they can keep providing this service to me and other families like ours all over Ireland. I came up with an idea that instead of normal run or walk up a hill for Jack & Jill we would try to run a pay it forward campaign, so it’s like donating a hill of work.
‘I’ve asked family and friends to donate one hour of their time to offer help, knowledge, services whatever their talent is and allow people to buy this hour and in the paying forward style they will donate €16 which is the cost of one hour’s home nursing support from Jack & Jill for a sick child,’ she said.
All the money raised will be donated the Jack & Jill Foundation.
Bekki said to put this fundraiser in context, Bella Rose is provided with 56 hours a month from Jack & Jill which is valued at €896.
‘If you can’t afford the full €16 then give anything you can spare. And do check out our Facebook page for what services people have offered,’ she said.
Bekki said the idea for the fund raiser ‘just popped into my head’.
‘I tried it and it seemed to work.. I never imagined it would get as much interest as it has.. it has just snowballed.
‘To start with, the amount I wanted was €896, but that was surpassed in a matter of hours, so I said we’d try to €2,000 and we’re nearly there already,’ she told this newspaper.
She said that by posting Bella Rose’s picture on her appeal, people could put a face to their donations and that was very important.
‘They can see it could be their child, their niece or nephew,’ she said. Cloverhill Prison is the latest to come on board with funding.
Bekki said she nearly kissed the nurses when they first walked through her door after she brought Bella Rose home from hospital.
‘I was terrified bringing her home, but they are there for me,’ she said.
Bella is booked for open heart surgery on October 24.
‘It’s a major thing to get her heart repaired. If she doesn’t get this done, there’s no coming back from it,’ she said.
Jack & Jill liaison nurse Joanne Doyle said the foundation was grateful to Bekki and all the family for creating the fund raiser.
‘Bella Rose’s family along with all the other families who care for their sick children inspire me each and every day to continue working with the charity, as well as the founder and CEO Jonathan Irwin and Mary Joe Guilfoyle (Jack & Jill’s first liaison nurse) who had this pioneering idea almost 20 years ago to give parents nursing help in their own home.
‘Bekki’s wonderful pay it forward idea is sure to inspire more people to create their own pay it forward campaign, especially as part of our Up the Hill for Jack & Jill October fundraiser. If you would like to donate see: https://www.gofundme.com and seach for Bella Rose.