Féile O’Sullivan: One year on, West Cork teenager is 'upbeat and all set to return to school'
Maureen O'Sullivan with her daughter Féile O'Sullivan, who now has a prosthetic leg. 'And actually she was doing table tennis the last day; she was standing up doing it. It was cool to see,' says Maureen. Picture provided to the 'Irish Examiner' by Maureen O'Sullivan.
Marking one year since a devastating farm accident in West Cork which led to her losing both her legs, an “upbeat” Féile O’Sullivan is preparing to return to school.
Her future seemed uncertain but, following months of complex care at CHI at Crumlin Hospital and the National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH), things are very different for the sports-mad 13-year-old.
Her mother Maureen has been at her side, only taking short breaks to return home to Allihies for work.
“Things have really changed, she is unbelievable,” Maureen said today, Thursday, as the anniversary came around.
“She’s just being a teenager, to be honest; she’s upbeat and still extremely positive. She’s looking forward to school in September.”
Videos of Féile playing sports, especially GAA and horse-riding, had tugged at heartstrings when the accident happened.
Now, as Maureen spoke, she kept one eye on Féile racing the NRH corridors in her powered wheelchair with her friends. Maureen said:
A prosthetic leg was recently added to her armory.
“And actually she was doing table tennis the last day; she was standing up doing it. It was cool to see. She’s doing basically anything that’s available; she’s going to try out some wheelchair hurling now as well,” Maureen added.
She was thrilled to tears to stand and hug her daughter, with no wires or chair between them.
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“She’s all set to go to school; she’s been getting so much better since this day last year realistically,” Maureen said.
Grant applications have gone in for adaptations in the school.
Meanwhile, the teenager has had “maybe 100” complex surgeries involving dozens of healthcare workers with more scheduled to come later.
“She’s looking forward to spending some time with her friends instead of being with them in a hospital,” Maureen said.
“She’s hoping to spend some real time with them now in August.”
Her dogs, including a new puppy, are another draw.
A huge fundraising effort called Stand 4 Féile, which was led by her hometown, spread around the world last year, bringing financial and emotional support.
“It was phenomenal, there’s community, and then there’s that,” Maureen said.
A committee of four volunteers in the town started it off. This multiplied to cake sales, cycle races, vintage threshing, pub quizzes, bullock sales and more, as well as support from dozens of sports clubs.
A quilt came from Butte, Montana, where Allihies ties lie deep thanks to decades of emigration to the mines there.
Foundations go down this month for a specially adapted house near the family farm, also supported.
Independent councillor Finbarr Harrington estimated donations came to around €1m before a GoFundMe was replaced with a managed trust fund.
The car Maureen drives from the NRH to Crumlin every weekend came from this too.
The NRH closes to paediatric in-patients every weekend, she explained, so they transfer to CHI at Crumlin for tests and accommodation.
Maureen pauses as she thinks about all of it.
“It’s Féile’s birthday next week, and when you think this time last year we had a prayer service for her birthday,” she said.
She recalls watching a video of the singing, saying: "I had goosebumps from it, everyone there was just being so hopeful.”
Now watching Féile play tag, she said: “Her smile makes you forget everything else. It will be nice now to go back to Cork.”
- Niamh Griffin, Health Correspondent
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