Rush to save life of hepatitis C mother
Sylvia O'Leary is due to be flown to a London hospital for a third liver transplant. Her husband Des and children Emma, 13, and Dylan, six, are praying for a miracle.
The family was forced to go public over Christmas to highlight a compensation ordeal with the State.
Mrs O'Leary, 32, from Ballincollig, Co Cork, will be flown by air ambulance from Cork University Hospital to King's College Hospital, London.
Family solicitor Melissa Gowan said Mrs O'Leary remained unconscious and on a life support machine after being admitted to hospital last Saturday.
Ms Gowan said: "A bed has become available in London and her husband Des will be travelling with her. Their two children will be staying in Cork."
The solicitor said the department will be footing the bill for the air ambulance and Mrs O'Leary's treatment at King's College Hospital.
"The family are devastated. She's a young mother who had her first liver transplant when she was just 21," Ms Gowan said.
Mrs O'Leary contracted hepatitis C after a contaminated blood product was used during a liver transplant at a London hospital in 1990. She underwent a second transplant in London last March but was placed on a life support machine at Cork University Hospital on December 21 after suffering liver and kidney failure.
Her claim had to be finalised outside the scope of the hepatitis C compensation tribunal because she was informed of her illness after the closing date for claims to the inquiry.
Her husband Des accused Health Minister Micheál Martin of delaying 'signing off' on an agreed compensation package because his wife was at death's door.
Mr Martin vehemently rejected the allegation and the Department of Health signed the compensation package, believed to be in the region of 1m, on Christmas Eve.
