MAUREEN’S40YEARLEGACY
THE tragic death of her five year old daughter from Cystic Fibrosis led Maureen McKeown to founding the Dundalk CF branch some 40 years ago.
Maureen, who was recognised for her extraordinary contribution to the cause at the recent Cystic Fibrosis Ireland conference held in Dundalk told the Argus how she came to be involved in the late 1970’s.
‘My daughter had passed away on Christmas eve 1964 from Cystic Fibrosis. She was only five years old.
At the time, there was very little information about the disease. I had no one to turn to,’ she recalled.
Nearly fifteen years after her daughter’s death, Maureen said she ‘still needed to know more about what had happened to her,’ and when she heard the national Cystic Fibrosis foundation were visiting Dundalk she went along.
‘Myself and another local lady, Teresa Donnelly from Ravensdale, went to the meeting. They were looking at setting up a support group in Dundalk, so we decided to get involved.’
From small beginnings with just a handful of members, Maureen said they continued to fundraise locally, and provide information and support for parents of children with Cystic Fibrosis.
‘ The meetings were small initially, but gradually over the years there were more people getting involved, and I’m very happy now to see it is such an active branch.’
She added that the purpose of the local branch had ‘always been to support people, to be a point of contact and information, and also to raise funds for more research into the condition.
Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is an inherited chronic disease that primarily affects the lungs and digestive system of about 1,300 children and adults in the Ireland (70,000 worldwide).
In the 1950s, few children with cystic fibrosis lived to attend primary school.
But huge advances over the last few decades in research and medical treatments, including in Ireland, have further enhanced and extended life for children and adults with CF.
Many people with the disease in Ireland can now expect to live into their 30s, 40s and beyond. People with CF in Ireland are increasingly going on to attend third level colleges, accessing employment, and living more independent lives, with the support of family and friends.
Indeed, the contribution of people such as Maureen and others involved in developing the local branch has led to a much greater awareness of the condition, and offered hoped to families in need of support.
At the annual CF Ireland conference held in the Crowne Plaza, Maureen was presented with a special award for her dedication over the last forty years.
She said she was ‘really surprised, but delighted’ to have been awarded at the event, with the honour conferred by the current chair of the Dundalk branch, Adie O’Hagan.