Children’s Health Foundation are calling on hotels across Co. Clare to donate a night and change a life by taking part in their ‘Hotels for Little Heroes’ campaign.
The campaign asks Irish hotels to donate the cost of a night’s stay to raise vital funds to help give every sick child in Children’s Health Ireland at Crumlin, Temple Street, Tallaght, and Connolly the very best chance.
Killarney native and patient in Children’s Health Ireland at Temple Street, Alexis O’Mahony, teamed up with Children’s Health Foundation Ambassador John Burke from The Armada Hotel to launch this new campaign and urge Irish hotels to help change the lives of sick children who spend time away from home in hospital.
Alexis first visited Children’s Health Ireland at Temple Street three days after she was born. Steve, Alexis’s Dad, says “that was our first trip up and down to Temple Street and this has continued over the past seven years. Alexis has grown up there and it’s like a home away from home.”
Alexis was born with Pyruvate dehydrogenase deficiency (PDH), a rare and serious condition that affects her metabolism. This has meant the past few years have been challenging for Alexis and her parents. “Alexis had no energy as a baby, no energy to smile or even cry” said Teresa, Alexis’s mother. “One night I heard a big laugh, I was overjoyed – where was this energy coming from? But it wasn’t a laugh, she was having a fit.”
Teresa and Steve are grateful for all the support of the staff in Children’s Health Ireland at Temple Street, whose care goes beyond the medical. “Whether nurse or professor, people from different departments interact with Alexis and us on a human level.” said Steve. “They’re always there if we have questions or need anything. That human touch is really important.”
Teresa added: “You feel that you matter to the doctors, they make you feel important. I remember one time I was stopped in the corridor with Alexis and a doctor said, ‘Oh my god, is that Alexis, how she’s grown!’ He hadn’t seen her in years.”
Unfortunately, spending time away from home can be an inevitability for a child when they become sick. There are children, like Alexis, who can spend months at a time in hospital. That is time away from family and friends; away from their own school, sport and all the things that make a childhood. The Children’s Health Ireland frontline teams provide loving, compassionate care every day, but being in hospital can be a lonely and scary place for children.
By registering to take part in the campaign, hotels can support children like Alexis as they spend many nights in hospital being looked after by the amazing Children’s Health Ireland staff.
John Burke, CEO of The Armada Hotel, speaking at the launch of the Hotels for Little Heroes said, “I’m delighted to welcome Alexis and her parents Teresa and Steve to The Armada Hotel today to launch Hotels for Little Heroes. By taking part, The Armada Hotel and other hotels across Ireland will donate life-saving funds to support little heroes like Alexis currently in the care of the staff in Children’s Health Ireland hospitals and urgent care centres. Alexis and I are calling upon hotels to join The Armada Hotel and donate a night on Friday, 3rd November to change the lives of sick children!”
Hugh Kane, interim Chief Executive at Children’s Health Foundation said, “Hotels for Little Heroes is a fantastic way for Irish hotels to support sick children in Children’s Health Ireland hospitals and urgent care centres. By donating the cost of a night’s stay in your hotel, you can change the lives of sick children and provide vital, life-saving funds to support the incredible work in Children’s Health Ireland at Crumlin, Temple Street, Tallaght and Connolly. We’d like to extend a huge thank you to our wonderful Ambassador John for helping us launch Hotels for Little Heroes and for the Armada Hotel’s support.”
To register and find out other ways hotels can get involved click here or make contact by email.