Rob Kearney gets himself booked for Crumlin Hospital's memories

Irish rugby star Rob Kearney was happy to get booked for the children at Crumlin.

CMRF Crumlin, the principal fundraising body for Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital Crumlin (OLCHC) and the National Children’s Research Centre, has launched the  Crumlin’s Big Book of Memories campaign to honour the hospital’s 60^thanniversary and CMRF Crumlin Ambassador Rob Kearney was in the line out to help.

This campaign is inviting the nation to commemorate all of the great work the OLCHC has done since its inception, by recording their memories of the hospital through the virtual memory book at crumlinmemories.ie.

The website will enable members of the public to share and read the touching stories which illustrate the hospital’s 60 year history.

From past patients and their loved ones to hospital workers and donors - anyone with a memory of the hospital can get involved, share their memories and help to shape the hospital’s future by donating online.

Funds raised through the campaign will be used to make urgent renovations to the Outpatients Department which was built in the 1960s to accommodate 500 patients per week.

Today, three times that amount (1,500 children) pass through its doors every week, leading to considerable overcrowding and insufficient resources.

Another area of focus for campaign donations will be the refurbishment of The Nazareth Ward which treats the hospital’s youngest and sickest babies, many of whom have never left the hospital since birth.

A portion of the funds will also cover a range of equipment worth over €2 million which is urgently required by the OLCHC, including cancer detection equipment, CF detection equipment and cardiac echo machines.

Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital Crumlin Key Statistics

• ·        150,000 children attend OLCHC annually from all across the country 
• ·        Annually, Crumlin does 10,000 theatre procedures
• ·        11,000 inpatient stays annually
• ·        80,000 Outpatients admittances annually
• ·        20,000 day cases annually
• ·        30,000 A&E attendances annually
• ·        Every child who is diagnosed with cancer in Ireland will be treated in Crumlin Hospital 
• ·        Approximately 250 new cases of cancer are diagnosed every year
• ·        Crumlin completes approximately 550 cardiac surgeries every year