‘Miracle boy’ one of 53 awaiting wheelchair
Adam King, who previously featured in a BBC TV series, Incredible Medicine, has been on the list since last July, and spends much of his time scrabbling around on all fours “like an animal”, according to his mother, Fiona King.
Ms King was told 24 weeks into her pregnancy that her son had osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), a brittle-bone condition which, in its most severe form, is not compatible with life. The Kings, from Killeagh, Co Cork, did not know until Adam was born if he had the fatal form of the condition. During her pregnancy, Fiona travelled to Stockholm for revolutionary stem-cell treatment.
The Kings are now focused on trying to secure their child a wheelchair as part of their ongoing fight to give him the best chance in life.
Of the 53 children currently awaiting a wheelchair, nine have been waiting more than six months and two have been waiting more than a year. The Kings are calling on Health Minister Simon Harris to review the manner in which the waiting lists operate, where disability organisations compete for resources, and adults and children are on a single waiting list in Cork/Kerry.
The HSE said: “Cork Kerry Community Healthcare is committed to an equitable and transparent management of aids and appliance requests”, but funding “is finite” and “allocated on the basis of clinical need, rather than by age category”.
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