Join together for life-saving surgery for little Joey Conway

Joey Conway

A campaign has been launched to raise funds for life-saving surgery for Tullamore two-year-old Joey Conway, son of former Offaly camogie player Natalie Conway (née McCabe).

In January 2023, Joey was diagnosed with Portal Vein Thrombosis (PVT), which has led to a serious and rare condition Non-cirrhotic Portal Hypertension. Portal Hypertension has life-threatening symptoms and the risk of death is 40% on a first episode of bleeding.  

Joey has already suffered two episodes of sepsis in his young life and his enlarged spleen causes him to have a large belly which hinders his mobility and means he can only stand with lots of support. 

Natalie says, "As parents, we are constantly living on the edge in fear of ‘is he going to cough up blood? Or is this the nappy that will have the blood in it? We hear him coughing in bed, we check straight away to see if there is blood on the sheets. Or is he having too much fun laughing and shouting, will this make him bleed?

"Trying to keep him safe from infections, making decisions to go out as a family or go to play centres, going swimming, all these “normal” experiences we have to second guess and analyse the situation."

Treatment options for Joey in Ireland are limited, but there is surgery available to treat his condition in Chicago. The Meso Rex Shunt/Bypass is a five-hour procedure that connects the superior mesenteric vein to the left portal vein using an internal jugular vein. This bypasses the obstruction and restores normal portal flow into the liver. This can restore Joey’s system back to normal function. It would be both life saving and life-changing.

He would have to stay in Chicago for between eight to 12 weeks from pre-op to post-op. In all, the operation will cost €330,000.

His father Tommy, physio with Kilcormac Killoughey when the club won its three in a row of Offaly senior titles, adds.

"If this surgery is completed in a healthy system that Joey currently has now, there is a 90% chance of success and restoring Joey’s system and curing him of all other symptoms. Giving Joey this chance now in the next six months would change his life forever.

"As parents, we want Joey to go to preschool in September with his cousins, play football with his brother Jordi, dance in the kitchen with his sister Molly and simply live his best life that we can only hope and dream for if he gets this surgery.

"But we are against the clock because the sooner we get this done for Joey we immediately eliminate the threat to his life of bleeding or another septic event."

Since December 22nd, €100,000 has been raised. If you like to donate, visit the Join Together for Joey Gofundme at https://gofund.me/a46b772f. Or if you would like to have an event to raise funds, email [e-mail].