Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The Clare Byrne Show on Newstalk. With Aviva Insurance. Today is wish day on Newstalk and we have a target this hour, right? We got up to the 85,000. Well, 81st, then 85,000. And now they've really put the pressure on folks. 95,000 euro. That is the target for this hour. We can do it or you can do it.
Chapter 2: What is Wish Day and how can I contribute?
You have been invited. phenomenal all morning but we would ask you to dig deep we have a little added incentive between now and 12pm because we have an incredible prize up for grabs today the fabulous people at Sunway have given us a two night break for two in Lisbon, Portugal we're covering your flights And we'll put you up in a beautiful four-star hotel. And there's also more spot prizes too.
So keep listening. And if you can, donate. To get into the draw, all you have to do is make that donation. Makeawish.ie forward slash donate is the website. Then screen grab your proof of donation and just WhatsApp that. 2-1-0-8-7-14-100-1-0-6. And that's all thanks to Sunway, one of Ireland's most trusted holiday companies. Terms and conditions apply. And look, I suppose...
We want to help all of the listeners understand why these donations are so important, why every single cent really does count. And I'm delighted to be joined now in studio by Susan McQuaid-O'Dwyer, who's the CEO of Make-A-Wish. And on the phone is Mary Logue and Donegal, whose family... had the services of Make-A-Wish during a very, very difficult time in their lives a number of years ago.
Mary, I might come to you first and thanks so much for joining us this morning. Can you tell us about Aaron? He was the youngest of your three kids and by all accounts, a lovable little character.
Yeah, Aaron was, as you say, the youngest of the three. Dara and Cailin are his two oldest brothers. He was, as you say, a wee character. He was a very happy-go-lucky wee boy. He loved life. He was full of life. He loved school. He was eager to learn. And just all round, a happy wee boy. He had a charm and he had a glint in his eye that he could wrap you around his finger just within minutes.
And I'd imagine having three boys like that in a busy household, it was noisy, boisterous, full of fun, busy family life.
It was, of course. Every day was a new day and a different day and you had something to deal with it. But it was all fun and it was a very happy household and they played out the back. There was a field at the back of the garden. They played there together. They always played together. They got on really well.
And a busy house and a happy house and, as you say, boisterous and all of that in with it, yeah.
To go back to when Aaron was just seven years of age, there was a nurse, wasn't there, who was living in your area, who was connected to the hospice, who really just took a look at Aaron one day and said, you better bring him to the doctor, I don't think he looks great.
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Chapter 3: Who is Susan McQuaid O'Dwyer and what is her role at Make A Wish?
So the surgery was cut short because it was basically only a biopsy that they did because of the type of tumour. Had he stayed, had they worked more on him, he would have probably bled out. So then after that, then we spent six weeks in Beaumont and then we were transferred to Crumlin, our ladies in Crumlin, when he started his chemo there.
And that went on, that started in November, December 2016. And he continued that, I think it was about February or March, and he became really unwell there. He was transferred back to Crumlin from Litherkenny and high dependency again there. And the decision was made then to stop the chemo and to start radiotherapy in St Luke's, which we did do. And we spent six weeks travelling to St Luke's.
We stayed in one of the houses, the Late Late Show houses in Crumlin. And you traveled across every day. So I have to say, I think the radiotherapy was what did him the most good. It slowed down the growth of the tumor. And to a certain extent, he was able to get his life back. Then it wasn't as severe as the chemo, although he would be very tired. But it did enable him to come back to school.
He did a year from September 07. Up until June 2008, he was able to come to school and he would have missed very little time because he was a wee fighter. You know, he fought back all the time. He would get very sick and then he would bounce back and he kept going.
And he managed to get some normality, I suppose, back into his life for that period of time.
He was able to, as I say, come to school.
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Chapter 4: What was the story behind Aaron's diagnosis?
He had his friends. He was able to go on sleepovers or the friends came to the house. And we did, you know, he went, we did the normal things and life continued well. normal to a certain degree, but this was still always in the back of your mind.
And you did have, and you do have, two other older children, his two brothers, and you mentioned your husband Michael there as well. How did it impact the entire family, would you say, Mary?
Well, what we did, basically what we did, we kind of literally moved to Dublin. We had spent, Michael and I went to Dublin and we stayed together in Dublin with Aaron. So Dara and Cailin were at home and my mum and They spent some time with mum, but we have fantastic friends and family and friends. So their life basically was what either their granny or in a friend's house.
And Michael came back once to talk to the boys after we had been told how sick Aaron was and to explain to them, you know, how unwell he was. I didn't see the boys were brought down. Then my mum and friends would have brought them down once or twice by bus to see us. But basically... They were at home and we were either, we were in Dublin, maybe coming home for weekends.
When his chemo started, he would be down for a couple of days and then you were home. And then, but that was every couple, you know, you were no sooner home and kind of settled than you were away again. And that's what was very hard on them, that they were there kind of. Abandoned by us, sort of, but we're very fortunate that we had support of family and friends.
Yeah, and just a huge amount for them to come to terms with, to deal with.
They were only young as well.
Cailin was only 10 and Dara was 12. Did Aaron, I suppose, realise and did his brothers realise how serious the situation was for him?
The boys would have, I think Dara was about 13, so Dara would have been aware of the situation. Aaron was aware that when he transferred from Letterkenny, we told him that there was a lump in his head and that it was growing and the doctors in Dublin hopefully would be able to fix it for him.
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