Father raising awareness of need for donors with epic swim challenge
Stacey Hughes and Steve McDermott pictured with their daughter Leila
An Enniscrone father will undergo a swim from Enniscrone to Kilcummin to raise awareness for the need for donors in Ireland, as well as raising funds for a worthy cause.
Five-year-old Leila McDermott was born with a rare MECOM gene disorder which resulted in bone marrow failure.
This meant she required two platelet and one blood transfusion every week to keep her alive until she had a bone marrow transplant at 11 months old.
Leila’s parents Steve McDermott and Stacey Hughes know from this experience just how vital donors are and they are currently running an awareness campaign stressing the need for donors of blood, platelet and bone marrow in Ireland.
They said they will be forever grateful to the strangers who donated blood, platelet and bone marrow that kept their daughter alive for long enough to receive the crucial transplant.
“Our hope is by sharing Leila's story we can encourage others to become donors to help other families in a similar situation,” said Stacey.
Steve plans to swim from Enniscrone to Kilcummin, a distance of approximately 10 kilometres on Saturday, August 3, as part of the awareness campaign.
They have also created a GoFundMe page for Ronald McDonald House in Dublin.
The Ronald McDonald House provides accommodation and support for 20 families every night who have seriously ill children in Crumlin Hospital. Funds raised will go towards a new house at the Children’s Hospital being built.
Stacey said that Ronald McDonald House gave them huge comfort while Leila was receiving treatment and she would like to give the organization as much support as possible.
“Ronald McDonald was home away from home where our other children could come visit along with grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends. People we otherwise would not have seen for weeks on end,” she said.
To donate to this cause, visit the Swim for Leila page on the GoFundMe website.
