When Castlewellan mum, Georgina McKee was told in May 2010, that her three year old son Eoghan had Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia, life as she knew it changed. Recalling this earth shattering moment Georgina said, “When we found out it felt like our whole world fell apart”. This is when Northern Ireland Cancer Fund for Children stepped in to provide a range of services, including financial and emotional support for the family.

One of the ways the charity was able to help was through its respite services, in particular Shimna Valley House. Eoghan was joined by his parents and eight year old sister Amy as they spent a weekend at Shimna as a family. “It was lovely and quiet, the children were well looked after”. Georgina continued, “It was really child friendly and they could run about outside without any worries of them getting hurt by a car or anything. There was plenty for them to do and we all enjoyed it. There were other families at Shimna at the same time and we all had a lovely time.” Georgina’s family is just one of over 155 families who have enjoyed a much-needed break at Shimna Valley in the past year.

 As part of his cancer journey, Eoghan has undergone 7 weeks of intense chemotherapy. “It was rough, but he took it all in his stride and was such a good little boy the whole way through.”

 For any parent to see their child battle with cancer, it is an incredibly difficult time, to help Georgina and her partner Antony cope, they have been to Shimna Valley for one of NICFC’S Parental Support Weekends. Speaking of the value of this break away together Georgina said, “The weekends were fantastic. We had dinner, wine and just chatted. It was time to let us relax and get to know one another. We also took part in activities like clay pigeon shooting, pottery and had a massage.” Georgina went on to say,“You don’t have to talk about cancer, but you can if you want because the parents are going through the same thing as you are. We shared our experiences and for me it was far better than any counselling”. 

Looking to the future, Eoghan still has another 15 months of maintenance chemotherapy ahead of him but he is making great progress and has started nursery. “I can’t remember a time when he was in bad form about the treatment; he just gets on with it. We are going to Shimna over Christmas and the kids are really excited about it.”

Updated on: 16th December, 2011