Reduction in theatre hours denies Conor operation vital to his growth

SEVEN-YEAR-OLD Conor Coughlan has an S-shaped spine and the only way that this physical disability can be treated is by inserting rods into his back which allow him to grow.

Last April, in a gruelling 12-hour operation he had the first set of growing rods put in his back. In November, they were removed, lengthened and re-inserted. and were due for further extension last month.

However, as budget cutbacks continue to bite at Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, the senior infant from Ballygarvan in Cork has been informed that he will have to wait for that all-important operation as theatre hours are being reduced.

“We have been told that we have to wait until September. My great fear is that the rods will snap in the meantime as there will be increasing pressure on them. They were not built to last this long.

“It’s heartbreaking that he has to wait and my huge fear is that it won’t happen in September either,” said his mother Mary. “Conor doesn’t understand why he has to wait. Do any of us?”

Speaking on an Adjournment Debate in the Dáil, Fine Gael’s Simon Coveney raised Conor’s plight saying that young children can’t pay for the HSE’s inefficiencies.

“It is not an exaggeration to say that keeping five- and six-year-old children who have complicated, painful and severe spinal deformities and who require surgery on waiting lists for up to six months, or indefinitely in some instances, is a form of state-imposed child abuse.

“I do not make that comment lightly,” he said.

Conor isn’t allowed on trampolines or bouncy castles because of his delicate spine. The rods have meant that he can play sports – he loves swimming – but now his mother will be paying extra attention to any physical exertion.

“He will never be able to really keep up physically with other children, as he gets very stiff. He has benefited enormously from the rods. I am terrified that he will go backwards without the extensions.”