Liam, 13, ‘doing amazing’ after urgent spinal surgery

Liam Dennehy’s mother Pamela Dennehy said that with the success of the surgery on Thursday, a second procedure is not needed.

A 13-year old Kerry boy who faced long delays in getting scoliosis surgery had a successful 12-hour operation on Thursday, his delighted mother said.

Pamela Dennehy advocated publicly for improvements in the service, saying an urgent diagnosis should mean urgent treatment — not months or even years of waiting.

“Liam had to have a blood transfusion and everything through the surgery; it was 12 hours and it was very hard,” she said of the welcome procedure in CHI at Crumlin hospital.

“He just doing amazing. He sat up today in the bed with two physios and me helping him for about three minutes. I think everyone is very happy to see him come out the other side of it.

“I’m really proud of him. It was very hard on Thursday when it was coming to 9.30pm and still I hadn’t seen him. It was a long day but it was great, it was worth it,” she added.

Liam’s spine worsened rapidly last year, reaching a 35-degree curve by March and 85 degrees by November.

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The family was told last month he might need two surgeries, but this is now not necessary.

“That’s good news,” she said, adding they still face five to six weeks of recuperation in Dublin before returning to Killarney.

The mother and son have already been in Dublin for 10 weeks, leaving her older sons at home although two relatives travelled to help recently.

“As soon as Liam is well enough, his brothers will come up to see him because they haven’t seen him at all in Dublin,” she said.

“They are missing him. We miss our ‘normal’ , our very boring normal and we miss the boys. We desperately miss the boys.” A member of the Scoliosis Advocacy Network, she knows other children still face long delays due to pressures on the hospital system.

“I’m so grateful to them for doing a great job,” she said.

“But Liam’s surgery was harder because it was left get to that point, it is harder on him now because it was left get to that point.” CHI data shows there were 246 children on waiting lists for spinal procedures in May, with 192 surgeries done so far this year.

However, for now, she is focused firmly on the future.

“We are at the start again, but it is the start of a positive journey,” she said.