Daniella’s mother thanks public for support
A KERRY mother – whose 18-year-old daughter, Daniella, is currently receiving treatment in London for anorexia – has this week thanked the public for their continued support.
An online fund-raising page has been set up to help Joyce Russell cover the costs of travelling back and forth to London to see her 18-year-old daughter – something which Joyce says she is extremely grateful for.
“Without the support of friends and family and the community, I wouldn’t cope. They’ve been a huge support for me and I’m extremely grateful”, said Joyce, speaking to The Kerryman on Friday. “I don’t know how much money is going to be raised from this, but all of it is going to go to help me get over and back to England and to help me manage while I am over there.”
Talking about Daniella, Joyce was relieved to tell us that her daughter is slowly recovering but warned that there is still a long road ahead for her and her family.
“Daniella is doing okay at the moment. She is out of the wheelchair and she is beginning to eat again, but it’s very, very early stages at the moment.”
“Re-introducing food now is a big, big challenge that she wants to do, but of course her anorexia is still very strong. She has a long road ahead of her, but she is determined that she can do it. Thankfully, though, it seems that she is out of danger at the moment.”
Daniella. who had to receive to a blood transfusion to save her life and be fed through a tube for five weeks, now weighs just over 36kgs, an increase of 12kg from her lowest point in this battle. Her relieved mother said that, although the weight gain is a positive thing, they are taking her recovery day by day.
Joyce, who has not seen her daughter for over a month, is planning on flying over to see her this week
The online fund-raiser, the link to which can be found on The Kerryman Facebook page, has raised €510 of its €4,000 goal so far.
The fund-raiser was organised by members of the public, including Gerard Collins.
Gerard said that because Joyce does so much to help others, it was now their turn to help her.
“She does so much for others and so I think that the least we could do was to help her out through this fundraiser,” said Gerard, speaking to The Kerryman on Friday.
Joyce is in the midst of setting up a support group for familes who are struggling to cope with mental and eating disorder issues.
The group, which is entitled ‘Parent Action Care Group’, had its first meeting on Monday night and Joyce said that her goal is to roll out the group nationwide, eventually.
“This can be a very isolating ordeal for parents and families to go through, and when there are no facilities in the country to deal with this, it’s appalling, ” she said.
“We want to be able to offer support to those families who have gone through this alone for too long.
“If this group goes well here in Kerry, we want to roll it out to every single county in Ireland. It is badly needed.”