Little Eve has adjusted 'step by step' to cerebral palsy diagnosis

Dad Dan McDermott, Eve McGuigan McDermott, and mum Sarah McGuigan are currently fundraising so Eve can get her third round of stem cell therapy.

When Eve McGuigan McDermott was just nine weeks old, a sudden illness changed everything.

Now, her mother Sarah says she is “absolutely flying”.

After surviving meningitis as a baby and being diagnosed with cerebral palsy as a result of the infection, Eve has recently completed a second round of stem cell therapy abroad. Her family says the progress has been immediate.

“We’re seeing the difference straight away,” Sarah told the Irish Examiner.

“The results are incredible. Eve is now practising walking with sticks really successfully. She can stand up right now at her little kitchen by herself and play, without having an adult with their hands on her, and we can just be beside her to catch her if she falls over.

“Her vision and her muscle tone have improved.”

Eve McGuigan McDermott developed meningitis as a baby.

Eve was born in the summer of 2022 in the Coombe Hospital in South Dublin. She was, in her mother’s words, “born healthy and well, and there was lots of excitement”.

For nine weeks, everything was normal. Suddenly, it wasn’t. Eve developed meningitis.

“It wasn’t the typical signs of meningitis. Not a rash and spike of fever. She was just really unsettled overnight,” Sarah said. “We felt like she was out of sorts, a bad nappy, and diarrhoea and just not herself.” 

They brought her to the children’s hospital in Crumlin, a “decision that saved her life”, her mother said.

Meningitis is rare but, when it strikes, it moves fast. It is an infection that affects the lining of the brain and spinal cord, and babies are among the most vulnerable.

Subtle signs at first

The signs are not always obvious. Sometimes there is just a fever, a cry that doesn’t sound right, or a sense that something is off. It is a medical emergency, where hours can make the difference between life and death.

In Eve’s case, the infection had already crossed into the lining of her brain and, in Crumlin, doctors began treatment immediately, but things deteriorated quickly.

“Within 12 hours, she started having seizures,” Sarah said, describing the first signs as subtle.

“She’d really glaze over and look to the side.”

Then came what Sarah described as “a massive seizure that didn’t stop”.

Doctors had to sedate Eve and move her to intensive care. For parents Sarah and Dan, it was unimaginable fear.

“You feel like you’re only getting over the birth and into the madness of postpartum life with a newborn.  

I was just settling into life as a new mum, we'd figured out how to feed ... and then this came out of nowhere. It's your worst nightmare

Eve remained in the hospital for six weeks.

“After that, tube by tube, support by support, everything was taken away, and her recovery progressed,” Sarah said.

Then came a moment they will never forget.

“One of the consultants sent us to bed,” Sarah said. “They were saying: ‘She’s coming out of this. You have to sleep.’”

Just three hours later, her husband Dan called from downstairs.

“He rang me to say she was awake,” Sarah added.

Sarah ran through the hospital all the way to the ICU.

When she arrived, Dan was holding Eve. But something wasn’t right, Sarah added.

“I called Eve, and she didn’t react. She wasn’t aware that I was in the room.”

In that moment, Sarah knew Eve had a brain injury.

Injury 'all over' the brain

Eventually came the diagnosis of cerebral palsy, a lifelong disability that affects movement and co-ordination. At the time, everything was uncertain.

“Nobody could call it,” Sarah said. “We were living it. Is she going to talk? Is she going to see? The injury is significant, diffuse, and global, lots of injury all over the brain,” said Sarah.

Diffuse and global brain injuries refer to widespread, overarching neurological damage rather than localised trauma. They adjusted “step by step”.

Now, nearly four years on, Eve is defying expectations.

“She talks. Her language is way beyond. She’s smart, really funny, kind. She is amazing and, cognitively, she is thriving,” Sarah said.

Eve’s vision is only mildly affected but, with stem cell therapy, her vision is improving.

Eve attends equine therapy, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and intensive rehabilitation programmes.

Her biggest challenges are physical.

“Motor skills, her ability to move her body. She is as aware as any other child her age. She wants to be involved. She had no awareness of her body,” Sarah added.

“That has all been learned by her, bit by bit, over hundreds of hours of therapy and practise.”

Every gain has been hard-won, and therapy is constant. Eve attends equine therapy, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and intensive rehabilitation programmes.

“We go wherever the intervention Eve needs is available,” Sarah said.

They have been to Poland, Spain, Antwerp, and Drogheda, and the family are now currently in Lanzarote.

“We have an ongoing fundraising to pay for this as we haven’t received money from the treatment abroad scheme,” Sarah added.

For Eve, time matters — especially when the brain is still developing. One major intervention is the undertaking of stem cell therapy.

“It’s not a cure, but it goes hand in hand with intensive therapy afterwards

Sarah’s way of describing it is simple: “Stem cells clear the traffic so she can learn to drive.”

Eve is on her second round of treatment after they raised over €35,000.

“She had the stem cell therapy done in less than an hour. It is mind-blowing,” Sarah said.

Then came months of intensive therapy, and now the results feel even more immediate.

“She’s absolutely flying. We’ve had her second round of stem cells, and we’re into that post–stem cell block of therapy now. Eve will need at least a third round of stem cells to achieve her goal of walking independently,” Sarah added.

“What stem cells primarily do is create this period (of) hyper neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is the process that the brain uses to form new connections and, because of that, she’s learning at lightning speed.”

Planning for round three

The treatment involves two-hour therapy sessions.

“When we do a week intensive, everything improves. Things that we’ve noticed are that her vision has improved, and her eyes are tracking together much more easily,” Sarah added.

“It’s much easier for her to find balance because she can focus on something. She can understand her body is a little better, and her vision will be very tied to your balance, and her muscle tone is so much more relaxed. She is practising walking with sticks. It is incredible treatment, and she will have to go for a third round.”

The progress Eve has made has strengthened her parents’ belief in the treatment.

“I want every kid with cerebral palsy in the country to have access to them,” said dad Dan.

The costs, however, are enormous.

“About €30,000 all in for stem cell. Then, intensive therapy afterwards,” Dan said.

With travel, equipment, and follow-up care, the total has climbed even higher to €65,000. There is no simple support system to cover it.

“There’s no treatment abroad scheme for this,” Dan added.

The family has no choice but to fundraise. They share Eve’s story on Instagram (@evesdreamtowalk) and hope it reaches people. And it does.

“There are very generous strangers. The kindness of people, we couldn’t do it alone,” Sarah said.

“You’ll be blown away by what they are capable of. There is so much hope.

“We’ve got ‘Team Eve’ doing the women’s mini marathon to raise funds and awareness on May 31.

“A group of 21 brilliant women moving their bodies in solidarity with our girl who is working so hard to move hers. We would love to have more to join us.”

The HSE said it cannot comment on individual cases in order to protect patient privacy.