St Ita’s school students take to the track for Warrior Princess Hannah
STUDENTS at St Ita’s Special School in Drogheda are preparing to run a half marathon to raise funds for their classmate Hannah Donnolly, the Warrior Princess.
Dolores O’Donoghue, who is Hannah’s SNA in St Ita’s, is running the London Landmarks Half Marathon in London over Easter with her own family to raise funds to support Hannah during her recovery process and the children in the school decided they would like to complete the other half of the marathon, taking it in turns to complete relays.
‘We’re going to tie it in with the kids here in the stadium, they are very eager to do something to help Hannah and they will also have landmarks to reach which they will then bring back to the classroom to discuss,’ explained teacher Sarah O’Connor.
‘Hannah is facing a long hard recovery and this is something to help her but also to help our students here because it has had an effect on them and it gives them the opportunity to feel like they are doing something.
‘When Dolores decided to do the half marathon in London we decided to run the other half here in Drogheda in relays. The school will do the other 21kms so there is a full marathon done for Hannah.’
The St Ita’s school half marathon will take place on Thursday, March 22nd from 10am at the Lourdes Stadium.
Each child will raise €2 through the event and the money will go towards Hannah’s recovery.
If you would like to donate to Dolore’s fundraising effort you can visit her gofundme page at www.gofundme.com/hannah/beth/donnolly
Hannah was born on Valentines Day in 2001 with a rare genetic condition called Apert Syndrome which causes fusion of bones prenatally and prevents normal growth of the skull and face.
Over the last 17 years, Hannah’s health has been extremely inconsistent and she has had in excess of 40 operations and skin graphs - all of which she has faced without fear.
‘Her love for life, combined with her determination and will to live, has inspired us to challenge ourselves and raise money on her behalf. We’d really appreciate any financial support you can give and also if you would share this with your friends so we can raise as much as possible. All funds raised go entirely to support Hannah,’ said Dolores on her fundraising page.
The teenager went in to hospital for spinal surgery in March 2017 walking and talking but unfortunately complications arose and she ended up with an emergency tracheotomy and became paralysed from critical illness myophady and critical illness polyneuropathy.
Hannah remains in Temple Street hospital at present. She desperately wants to go home but will need round the clock care with house adaptations in order to do this.