Searching for a cure at any cost

SADHBH SPRINGATE’S wish for her first holy communion was not for a fairytale dress or lavish celebrations or oodles of money.

She did request a meal in a fancy restaurant and a preference for her mother to don high heels, but her third aspiration is unlikely to feature on the wish-list of most seven-year-olds.

She wanted her daddy to have hair. As one of the unfortunate side-effects of aggressive chemotherapy treatment, Michael Springate went bald.