Continuing Cian's journey: Initiative will allow pets to visit sick children in hospital
Cian Neary pictured here with his beloved dog Cooper. The joy that Cooper brought to Cian's life during his cancer treatment inspired Cian's Kennels. Picture: Cian's Kennels/Facebook
Work has begun on a unique project at Crumlin's Children's Hospital in Dublin that will see patients able to receive visits from their pet.
The Cian's Kennels initiative will see a €100,000 facility with specially designed kennels built on site at the back of St John’s Ward so children can visit with their pets.
The Neary family established the charity in honour of their son and brother, Cian, after seeing how much joy spending time with his dog brought him while he was receiving treatment at the hospital.
His mother, Evelyn, describes Cian as having been a typical young man who enjoyed sports, spending time with his friends and was a lover of animals of all shapes and sizes.
It was a bolt from the blue when Cian suddenly became ill and just over a week after he was admitted to hospital, Evelyn and her husband Enda received the news shattered their world.
Cian was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer called hepatosplenic T cell lymphoma.
The next number of months saw the young teen unable to return to school or the sports he loved to play as he underwent various treatments.
When his parents asked what they could do for him that would help him through the difficult times, they were not surprised when Cian asked for a puppy of his own.
A few weeks later, five-month-old Golden Labrador Cooper became a member of the Neary clan and he and Cian were almost inseparable.
The time spent with Cooper — playing, exercising, training — became the highlight of Cian's days and something to look forward to amid hospital stays and treatments.
In June 2019, Cian's health took a turn for the worse as he became very ill overnight. He would spend the next three months in Our Lady's Children's Hospital.
Unable to return to his home in Longford, Cian missed Cooper terribly and so his parents brought the dog to Dublin and kenneled him nearby.
This meant that almost every day during those final three months of Cian's life, he was able to spend time with his beloved dog and the whole family were able to create some wonderful memories that they can look back on fondly.
Sadly, Cian passed away in the early hours of 23 September 2019, just a year after receiving his diagnosis. He was 15 years old.
"We realised after we lost Cian, the true value of that time that we had up in Dublin as a family, including our family pet," said Ms Neary.
"We also saw the great joy that it brought to Cian so today marks the beginning of us continuing that journey that Cian started."
While he was a patient at the Crumlin hospital, Cian's love for his dog was already inspiring other patients.
Darragh Smyth, who is now recovered from cancer and was a patient on the same ward as Cian two years ago, said: "I heard that Cian got a dog and it made him happier so I decided to go get myself a puppy as well.
"He brought joy to the family and a distraction to me from what was really going on."
While Cian's Kennels is focused on bringing ill children together with their furry friends, Ms Neary says the service is for the whole family.
The time she, Enda, Cian and their other son Shane were able to spend with Cooper in Dublin, offered them all a break and a bit of normalcy during what was a difficult time for all of them.
Today, Shane cut the ribbon on the new facility which will bring precious moments of happiness to the many patients who are treated in the children's hospital as well as to their families.
With their own experience behind them, the Nearys established Cian's Kennels to ensure that families can have all of the benefits of bringing a pet to Dublin to visit without the financial and logistical stresses involved.
The service will include transport from the family home to and from the kennels as well as to and from the hospital, the use of fully resourced boarding kennels and full veterinary checks including vaccinations to ensure that any animals brought to visit the hospital are in the best health.
"We are very much aware of how completely precious these pets are and that is why we have the vets to check them out and approved transport. We want to make sure that the kids are confident in our service," said Ms Neary.
The DSPCA, who are providing the kennelling service, are located nearby and offer state-of-the-art suites to the animals staying with them.
Chrissy Mahon, Commercial Manager of DSPCA, said that all animals are housed individually and have all of their meals brought to them. "We bring as much comfort from home as we can."
Ms Mahon said the DSPCA jumped at the chance to partner with the Nearys in being able to offer this priceless services to patients and their families.
Already the DSPCA has received a call from a family who have a child currently going through treatment in Crumlin who had heard about Cian's Kennels and was interested in the project.
The joy that other families will get from having this service available to them will be a beautiful way to keep Cian's memory alive, said Ms Mahon.
Cooper was also on hand at today's ribbon-cutting ceremony and can still remember all the tricks that Cian had taught him.
"He is so lovable and he is definitely a credit to the family and to Cian," said Ms Mahon.
Work on phase one of Cian's Kennels is expected to take around six weeks and is expected to be up and running in early spring.
The temporary holding kennels will be located in the same spot where Cian and Cooper met on a number of occasions by the oncology ward where Cian spent much of his time during his illness.
Long-term, the plans are to provide fully resourced boarding kennels close to the children's hospital.
The Nearys are excited to see plans progressing as establishing Cian's Kennels has been both a comfort and a distraction for them over the past two years.
"It is allowing us to talk about Cian and tell his story. For me, it has been very therapeutic and a positive experience," said Cian's mother.
"I think we will continue to get great comfort from it as we see it developing and we see it having a positive effect on the families."
Cian's Kennels is a completely voluntary organisation with no paid employees and is reliant on fundraisers and sponsorship.
If you are interested in donating, sponsoring, volunteering or want to learn more about what Cian's Kennels does, you can visit the website at cianskennels.ie.
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