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Eoin seeks help to get urgent spine operation

August 13th, 2019 11:20 AM

By Southern Star Team

Eoin Bracken with his parents Eithne and Padraig Bracken with sister Kate. (Photo: Denis Boyle)

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A Bandon mother is pleading for help for her teenage son who urgently needs a spinal operation.

By Brian Moore

 

A BANDON mother is pleading for help for her teenage son who urgently needs a spinal operation.

Eoin Bracken (15) was diagnosed with a severe spinal condition known as ‘kyphosis’ and his mother Eithne and his family are desperate for Eoin to receive an operation before his condition worsens.

‘We first noticed that there was something wrong when we were on holidays in France,’ Eithne Bracken told The Southern Star.

‘We took Eoin to our doctor and he was diagnosed with this spinal condition and while it is serious, the condition can be corrected with surgery.’

While the family have private medical insurance, this will not cover the procedure, because the hospitals where the operation can only be carried out privately are not listed on their insurance. 

‘Eoin was a normal teenager who loved sport and being out and about with his friends,’ Eithne said.

‘We are on the waiting list, but it could take years before we get the call, and as we wait, Eoin’s condition will get worse and worse. He is a young teenager and as you can imagine, this is causing him a lot of stress. He has stopped playing rugby and is very fed up, as he is sore and has no energy.’

Deputy Margaret Murphy O’Mahony (FF) has raised the waiting list situation with the Minister for Health and is calling on the government to keep the promises made to children with scoliosis and kyphosis, when the Minister pledged that those suffering would not wait more than four months for surgery.  

‘The commitment was made back in February 2017, but Eoin has been waiting since August 2018 for a date for surgery,’ said Deputy Murphy O’Mahony.

‘This situation is completely intolerable. We have a young, otherwise healthy teenage boy, who was diagnosed with the spinal disorder last year.  With timely surgery, the treatment for his condition is relatively straightforward,’ she said.

‘Since first being diagnosed, his condition has deteriorated to the point that he has now been placed on the urgent waiting list, yet despite this serious development no date for surgery has been forthcoming,’ she added. ‘This is a desperately worrying and frustrating time for his family, and the teenager himself is in severe pain. I have contacted Minster Harris’s office to make him aware of the seriousness of the situation.’

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