The family of a 12-year-old Cork girl, who needs an operation to correct curvature to her spine, has been informed she can finally have her surgery in Britain in April after waiting months for the operation at a Dublin hospital.
Bernie and Tom Kelleher, from Killavullen near Mallow, were delighted with the news yesterday. The news follows a year in which Ann-Marie's surgery was cancelled a number of times by Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, Dublin.
Her family, frustrated by the fact that her condition was deteriorating on the Crumlin waiting list, went to see a specialist in London in January and were told she could be operated on there within weeks if they paid for it.
Controversy ensued after the HSE refused to foot the bill for the €100,000 operation on Ann-Marie, who is bent over in pain and has been unable to attend school over the past year.
An anonymous caller to RTÉ's Liveline had offered to fund the operation and there was much debate afterwards about why the State could not have met the cost itself. Days later the HSE reversed its position and agreed to pay for the operation. It will be carried out on April 12th by an expert in the treatment of children with Rett syndrome and scoliosis. Ann-Marie has both conditions.
Ms Kelleher said yesterday her solicitor had received confirmation in writing from the HSE's Treatment Abroad Scheme that it would fund the surgery. Her daughter will require two operations about a week apart at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore, Middlesex.
While major surgery is involved, the Kellehers, although nervous, hope it will allow their lives to return to normal.
When Ann-Marie was assessed in Crumlin in June 2007, the curvature to her spine was put at 64 degrees. In London in January, the Kellehers were told it had worsened to more than 100 per cent. They hope the operation will reduce the curvature to about 30 degrees.