Medical trial in US offers hope to Liam

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.

Following examinations at Temple Street Children’s Hospital, Dublin, and at Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, Liam Heffernan’s results were sent to the medical team at Weill Cornell Medical Centre, New York. He will attend there in the next fortnight.

The two-year-old from Keel, Castlemaine, will undergo an intensive baseline assessment of his present condition to establish his suitability for a life-saving gene vector transfer operation later this year.