Father battles to save his children’s lives

A CORK father has vowed to fight to provide the life-saving treatment his two young children so desperately need.

Tony Heffernan, who now lives in Kerry with his wife Mary, has started the mammoth task of raising hundreds of thousands of euro to bring his children to the US to take part in clinical trials for Batten disease.

The Heffernan family, who live in the small close-knit community of Keel near Castlemaine, came to national attention when they appeared on last Friday’s Late Late Show. But Mr Heffernan said that was just the beginning of the journey he hopes could lead to a cure for Saoirse, 4, and 20-month-old Liam. They are the only sufferers of Batten disease living in the Republic of Ireland, and their only hope of survival is the clinical trial which starts later this year.