THE ‘BATTLE FOR FIONN’ IS ALL SET
CHARLEVILLE SHOWDOWN IN AID OF ‘FIGHT FOR FIONN’
ELEVEN teams are now set to take part in the lip sync battle which has been organised by a local committee in a major fund-raising venture in aid of two and a half year old Ballyhea boy Fionn Barry, who is suffering from debilitating and life limiting illness.
Taking place at the Charleville Park Hotel on this Friday, May 26, the teams are from Charleville, Ballyhea, Mallow, Croom, Feohanagh, Co. Limerick, Kanturk and Boherbue, and have been in rehearsal for the past ten weeks. They will be bidding to win the title only as there is no trophy or prize fund attached to the competition.
The groups will face a panel of five judges, plus the audience will also have a say as they will also be able to buy a vote on the night for their favourite team. Two winners will be announced at the end of the evening, the choice of the judges and that of the audience.
The whole event is in aid of Fionn, who was born in August 2014 but cannot do many of the things an average toddler can do. He is unable to walk or stand or even sit unaided, he cannot talk and he has a visual problem called cortical visual impairment.
He must take his liquid nutrition in through a tube attached to his tummy called a Mic-key button and a feed pump.
The little boy has spent most of his short life in hospital after being diagnosed at six months with infantile spasms, which have evolved into a life limiting illness and he needs 24 hour care.
Fionn needs numerous intensive treatments and therapies along with specialised equipment, all of which are quite costly but essential to improve his quality of life.
His home also needs to be specially adapted and extended so that he can have access to the main rooms in his home, to be cared for in a safe and comfortable environment.
“We want Fionn to be the best he can be and to give him the utmost chance to achieve his milestones. We pray that with these therapies and having a more suitable home for his complex requirements the need to return to hospital so frequently will be reduced to avoid the risk of infection and make him physically and medically fit to achieve his milestones,” said his mother Brenda O’Connell Barry.