A heartbroken mother yesterday spoke of the "absolute privilege’’ she and her husband had of being the parents of two children who died of the extremely rare Battens disease.

Scores of heartfelt tributes yesterday came through social media to a brave little boy who died from Battens Disease, which he had fought for four years.

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In the end, he died in his parents’ arms after a brave battle. Liam Heffernan, 5, won many hearts because of his valiant fight against a rare and terminal illness.

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The tributes to the absent Eddie Connolly flowed thick and fast.

We have 4,000 actors in this country, but most earn less than €12,000 per year. How do they survive? Colette Sheridan meets five actors and finds out

The condition of a young boy who has a rare and usually fatal disease is deteriorating.

A MAN is set to run the scenic Ring of Kerry in a single day to raise funds for a little boy who has stunned medics by his recovery from pioneering surgery for a fatal brain disease.

HAVING lost a daughter, Tony and Mary Heffernan feared they would never see the day when their gravely-ill little boy could live a normal life, let alone that they would see a medical miracle unfold.

CHASING waves on Inch Beach is a far cry from pioneering brain surgery in New York City but it’s a measure of the success the treatment has had on the life of 3-year-old Liam Heffernan.

The father of a two-year-old boy who underwent life-saving brain surgery in New York says his son is recovering well.

TWO-YEAR-OLD Liam Heffernan, who underwent pioneering brain surgery to help him overcome the fatal Batten disease, arrived back in Ireland yesterday — a week earlier than expected.

DOCTORS treating a two-year-old Kerry boy who underwent pioneering brain surgery in a New York hospital earlier this month have described his recovery as “awesome”.

THE parents of a two-year-old Kerry boy suffering from a rare disease were praying for the best possible 10th wedding anniversary present — his recovery following pioneering surgery.

A TWO-YEAR-OLD Kerry boy was undergoing brain surgery that may potentially save his life in a New York hospital last night.

A two-year-old Irish boy is set to become the world’s youngest child to undergo pioneering brain surgery.

AN IRISH boy with a rare brain disorder which claimed the life of his sister is set to become the youngest child in the world to undergo a pioneering medical trial.

AN IRISH boy with a rare brain disorder which claimed the life of his sister is set to become the youngest child in the world to undergo a pioneering medical trial.

A TWO-YEAR-OLD Kerry boy will become the youngest child in the world to undergo pioneering brain surgery to combat a fatal disease.

A YOUNG Kerry boy suffering from a rare condition, Battens disease, has been invited to the US for assessment of a medical treatment trial which could save his life.

THE recent report by the president of the Kilkenny branch of the St Vincent de Paul society Liam Heffernan, (The Irish Examiner, December 9) in which he claimed we are seeing Third World conditions in Ireland with children now scavenging in bins for food such is the dire level of poverty among some Irish families, raises the need for debate on the continuation and level of Ireland’s overseas aid programme.

THE Health Service Executive (HSE) has launched an investigation after two hungry children were found scavenging in bins in Waterford city centre.

A FUND-RAISING campaign for children affected by the extremely rare Battens Disease reached new heights over the weekend.

Liam Heffernan: the former Glenroe star has some hurling experience from his days at North Mon school before taking his role in Clash of the Ash.