Family and staff delighted as Leah Forde goes back to school

A change in the way Leah Forde is fed meant she needed a nurse to assist her in school, but a nurse wasn't provided since last October — until today

Leah Forde with her mother Michelle (left) and Anne Hartnett, principal, on her return to school after an absence of nearly a year at St. Paul's School in Cork. Picture: Denis Minihane.

It took research, photo shoots, a series of newspaper articles and radio interviews, schedule juggling, and literally hundreds of phone calls and emails for her mum and school principal, but a little girl who had missed nearly a year's worth of school is finally back in her classroom.

"We were up at 6.30am today getting her ready and it was just great to see her getting onto the bus and getting off at the school," said Michelle, Leah Forde's mum. Michelle had followed the school bus up to the school to watch her daughter cross the threshold for the first day back.