Tim cycles 275km to plead for daughter’s medical card

After a cycle that took a day and a half, a Cork father was met by Independent TD and special needs campaigner Finian McGrath, as he arrived in Dublin with a letter for the Taoiseach calling on him to intervene in the HSE’s refusal to grant his daughter, who has Down’s syndrome, a medical card.

Lucy O’Brien, who turns three next month, has sight and hearing problems. She also has speech difficulties and won’t be able to walk unaided. In the past year alone, she has attended her GP on at least 13 occasions.

When the little girl was born, the O’Brien family were given a two-year medical card on the basis of her “medical needs” but now this card has been revoked by the HSE even though her health problems have worsened.