Kerry teacher with Lyme disease 'overwhelmed' as she raises more than €66k for treatment

Some days Karin O’Shea is so bad that she can’t even feed herself and she says the disease is "doing everything but killing her". 

Treatment for Karin O’Shea's Lyme disease in the St George’s Clinic, Germany, for four weeks costing at least €35,000 is the only option now open to her. Photo via GoFundMe

A young Kerry woman with Lyme disease who set up a GoFundMe page to fund vital treatment abroad is "overwhelmed by people's generosity" as more than €66,000 has been donated in just a couple of days. 

Secondary school teacher Karin O’Shea, from Kilgarvan, said her life has been destroyed because of the disease, which wasn’t detected early enough, and has spread to almost all her vital organs.

The 26-year-old, who has been forced to give up her teaching job at St Brendan’s College in Killarney, Co. Kerry “indefinitely”, is now housebound. Some days she is so bad that she can’t even feed herself and she says the disease is "doing everything but killing her". 

She says treatment for the disease - which is caused by bacteria spread through the bite of an infected tick to a person - in the St George’s Clinic, Germany, for four weeks is the only option now open to her.

The cost of intensive treatment there is at least €35,000. That doesn’t include travel, post-treatment care and further appointments, which could see the total cost more than double.

Karin O’ Shea: “It’s been outstanding and I am overwhelmed by people’s generosity."

Karin had initially set a target of €45,000 on GoFundMe, and said she didn’t want to ask for more because she was “too mortified to ask people for a penny more”. By Friday afternoon, €66,400 has been raised.

Karin told the Irish Examiner: “It’s been outstanding and I am overwhelmed by people’s generosity.

“I have been phone to the clinic in Germany looking for a date. I honestly thought it would take me months to raise the cash.

She was diagnosed with the disease in April 2021. “The disease is doing everything but killing me and if I don’t get the treatment, I will just end up not being able to do anything for myself, " she said.

“At the moment, I already have days where I can’t even feed myself. I wouldn’t be in this situation if the disease had been diagnosed earlier.” 

The HSE regards this as a disease that is treatable here. I’m sure it is, but for severe sufferers like me, the treatment simply doesn’t work.

“We shouldn’t have to be forced abroad like this.”

Councillor Maura Healy-Rae, a friend of Karin, says more needs to be done to detect the disease earlier to prevent it spreading and having severe and debilitating consequences for sufferers.

Ms Healy-Rae said: “I am hugely concerned that a disease that can be so debilitating can go undiagnosed in this country. Karin went 12 years and was misdiagnosed on several occasions.

Karin O’Shea has been forced to give up her teaching job at St Brendan’s College in Killarney, Co. Kerry “indefinitely”.

“She was eventually diagnosed by sending her own blood samples to Germany where testing is clearly far superior than what it is in Ireland. She needs treatment in Germany which she can not access here in Ireland.

“I am sure there are many more people in Ireland who face the same battle. We need to dispel the misconception that this isn't a serious disease.

“There needs to be vast improvements in testing, diagnosis and treatment in this country and sufferers like Karin should not be forced to have to raise cash and be treated abroad.”