Megan rings in end of therapy
Megan Malone, from Kilnamartyra near Macroom, Co Cork, completed her 31st day of proton beam therapy at Massachusetts General Hospital on Tuesday and is ready to return to Ireland this weekend.
After her last radiotherapy session, Megan marked the milestone by ringing a special bell in the hospital.
A plaque with the bell reads: “Ring this bell three times well; Its toll will clearly say; My treatments are done; This course has run; And now I’m on my way.”
Megan’s dad John Malone said yesterday: “Megan rang the bell on Tuesday morning signifying the end of her treatment in the US. It was a very emotional occasion for all involved. This is the end of a long road for all our family and we are all eagerly looking forward to returning home after nine months here in the US.
“We will have to schedule an MRI in Ireland for two months time and every three months thereafter for the first year and every six months after that.”
Megan and her family moved to New York last December in a last-ditch bid to cure the youngster of a rare cancerous brain tumour. Megan had been diagnosed six weeks earlier and had been given a less than 10% chance of surviving in Ireland.
Megan was accepted for the programme at New York’s Presbyterian Children’s Hospital and showed improvement almost immediately. In July, the family moved to Boston, where she underwent proton beam radiotherapy treatment.
The Malones are expected back in Ireland on Saturday.
“It will be great to sit down and relax in our lovely home in Kilnamartyra, have a cup of Barry’s and take stock. We can’t wait to catch up with family and friends who we haven’t seen in nine months,” John said.
