Bumbleance makes a beeline for hospital with baby James and mum on board

The children's national ambulance service was a great source of comfort to Eimear Hallahan when her infant needed to be transported from Cork to Dublin for treatment

Tue, 01 Aug, 2023 - 02:00

Helen O’Callaghan

Last winter, Cork influencer and content creator Eimear Hallahan took to TikTok to get her through the nightmare of life in hospital with her very ill baby, James.

Within a week of James’s “really easy birth” in late October, the mum of two had begun to feel uneasy. “I started to feel something was a bit off,” she says, recalling how lethargic her baby was, how he wanted to sleep so much.

“He had this complete disinterest in his bottle — I had to wake him for feeds,” she says, adding that at all his appointments, it was put down to reflux. “But his brother, JJ, who’s 11 months older, had reflux and I couldn’t see a similarity in symptoms.”

Sure in her heart that something was wrong, Eimear and fiancé Jack Farmer brought James to Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH) when he was 15 days old. Tests that included a lumbar puncture showed up systemic sepsis. “It had taken over. If I had let it go until the weekend, he wouldn’t have made it. It’s every parent’s nightmare — we were in a massive state of shock.”

Transferred the next day in an emergency ambulance to Crumlin, James underwent further tests — he had MSSA Bacteremia, a serious infection with a high risk of complications. “It had entered his bloodstream and created abscesses of infection all over his body. We kept saying, ‘He’s going to be fine, right?’ They couldn’t even give us that little bit of hope — it was pretty much hopeless. All they could really say was, ‘This is seriously life-threatening’.

“He had a really big procedure to drain infection from a number of abscesses. He had drainage bags put in, and also a nephrostomy bag. He has hydro uretero nephrosis, which meant there was a dilation in his left ureter that was causing infection in his kidney.”

Eimear Hallahan and her son James Farmer in Co Cork. Pic: Denis Minihane.

‘Level of comfort’

Eimear recalls how her baby was intubated and put in a medically induced coma for a day. “His body had been through so much, they wanted to give him a hand with his breathing.” With the infant then in the high-dependency unit, Eimear and Jack worried about what function he would be left with after his ordeal. “We didn’t know if he’d have function in his arms and legs, or what function he’d have cognitively.”

And at the same time, they were thinking of JJ at home in East Cork. “We’d left JJ on November 10, thinking we’d see him in the next few days. We didn’t see him until November 24 — we missed his first birthday.”

By mid-December — with Eimear trained in management of James’s nephrostomy bag and trained also to give him antibiotics intravenously — the family left Crumlin for Cork by ambulance. “By now James was moving his arms and legs and giving little smiles. He was turning his head and we were able to hold him. Which might sound like nothing to ordinary parents, but to us was a miracle.”

Ninety minutes into this ambulance journey came a phone call from Crumlin to say the essential antibiotics would not be delivered that night to their home in Cloyne. It was a serious setback, but Cork University Hospital (CUH) stepped into the breach, providing the antibiotics and James got home. “Next morning, I went to change his nappy and his nephrostomy bag started leaking heavily. I had to wrap him up in nappies and bring him to hospital.”

Re-admitted to CUH, three days later he was transferred back to Crumlin so that a stent could be put in his left ureter. “We were hoping above anything that we could go back to CUH — the feeling that we mightn’t be able to see JJ for Christmas was hard — and two days before Christmas we got the go-ahead to do so.”

Because James had a central line inserted (much longer than a regular IV line, it goes all the way to a vein near or just inside the heart) he needed to travel by ambulance. But an ambulance couldn’t be found, and Eimear posted a video on TikTok about their struggles to get one. On Christmas Eve came an email from Bumbleance, Ireland’s Children’s Ambulance Service, and the world’s first interactive ambulance designed for children.

Bumbleance staff had seen Eimear’s post and their email said: “If you can’t get James home, we will get an ambulance for you, don’t worry.” But by the time she received the message, Eimear was already in a private ambulance on the way home to Cork (“Someone in my life organised that, and to this day I don’t know who it was”).

It struck her forcibly though, what a gift the Bumbleance offer was. “It came to me at a horrible time in my life. I thought, ‘I’m going to focus on this service, I’m going to fundraise for them’.”

With many teams involved in James’s care, resulting in lots of medical appointments — some in Cork, but many in Dublin — Eimear used Bumbleance’s services in April to bring James to an orthopaedic appointment in Tallaght Hospital. “I wouldn’t feel comfortable driving to Dublin, so having Bumbleance is so big for us. Otherwise, Jack would be taking more days off work and he has only eight days holidays left. And I find the stress of James’s appointments so draining — if I had to drive on top of that, it’d be very hard.”

Because James’s infection was so extensive, his parents won’t know the long-term effects until he grows. In recent days, Bumbleance brought him to Dublin for a DMSA scan, which Eimear says is “a very big test for his future” — this, along with another test he had last month in CUH, will determine his future treatment. With all these scans and procedures, Eimear says it is “such an up and down time”. In the midst of it all, she describes Bumbleance as a great source of comfort.

“It’s so relaxing and there’s this level of comfort. It’s kitted out for children, and our driver, Richie, is lovely. It feels comfortable and safe — as a parent, it lets you breathe.”

Director of Planning & Business Development at Bon Secours Health System Ireland Sinead Daly and Bumbleance CEO Brian Conlan.

Nationwide service

Last year was record-setting for Bumbleance in both the number of trips and distance travelled — almost 1,400 trips, an increase of over 10% on 2021, covering a distance of over 450,000km. The service ensures children nationwide access the medical care they need, whether routine care, chemotherapy, surgery or any other medical issue. “The range of conditions include cancer, Rett syndrome, Down syndrome, spina bifida and cerebral palsy,” says Bumbleance CEO Brian Conlan.

“We pick up at the child’s house, bring them to hospital, wait until their treatment’s over and bring them back. That could be 10-12 hours and at times we have to change drivers because of the length of the day.”

Bumbleance employs 12 drivers, who are based regionally throughout the country. They bring decades of experience from careers such as EMTs, paramedics, and members of the fire brigade.

Some families, tragically, are given the devastating news that there is no other medical intervention available for their child. Bumbleance supports these families too — last year, they did 15 ‘Angel Trips’, transporting a child with terminal illness home for the last time.

Bumbleance has 14 vehicles across Ireland, located regionally and in central Dublin. A free service to any child requiring assistance, it eliminates the financial burden often accompanying regular hospital visits. But the service gets no Government funding. “All of our funding is done through campaigns in the community, Bumbleance-run events and [donations] from the corporate sector,” explains Conlan.

Bumbleance and Bon Secours Health System (BSHS) recently announced a new three-year partnership, with BSHS pledging €135,000 to Bumbleance. This will support the service’s ambitious growth plans. “Once we build this funding into our plan, it could lead to the establishment of a new service or replacement of a vehicle,” says Conlan. “Our aim is to do 2,500 trips by 2026. We’re well on the way to making that target. And over the next 12 to 18 months we’re going to open a service in Northern Ireland.”

By June, Eimear Hallahan and some of her family members had raised over €30,000 for Bumbleance and she’s planning further events.

And James who is now nine months old? “He’s genuinely amazing. He’s hitting every milestone. He’s crawling and sitting up. I have a feeling he has something big to bring to the world.”