Surgical success forbrave little girl Eve

Eve’s parents, Gina (from Dungiven) and David (from England), have been fundraising for several months to collect the £100,000 needed for a trip to the USA for a specialist operation to help with Eve’s condition.

The Sentinel has previously reported on the fundraising efforts of the Williams family and friends in the Roe Valley area, including the ‘Musical Extravaganza’ event put on at the local GAA club in Dungiven by her 12-year-old cousin Cahir.

Eve was born with ‘quadriplegic cerebral palsy’, affecting her arms and legs, which means “she can’t walk, she can’t sit, she can’t do anything independently.”

Her Dungiven born mother Gina said: “We were afforded the chance for an operation in the USA – they don’t offer it in the UK or Ireland. It is a doctor called TS Park, at the St. Louis Children’s Hospital in Missouri. It is a major operation, which is worrying as a mother, but we have been told that the minimum expected outcome is that she will be able to walk with a zimmer-frame, which would be absolutely fantastic for her.”

Members of her home-town community in Dungiven and her adopted community in England, where the young family now live, have been working hard in the past few months to raise the necessary money for the trip to America and the operation itself. Both communities have rallied to little Eve’s cause, and the requisite funds have been secured.

Gina, David and the rest of the family are now in the United States, and have spoken about the progress of Eve’s treatment. Mother Gina said that she has been told by the expert Dr Park that Eve may achieve some independent walking a year or two after the treatment finishes, although she described seeing her child “in so much pain” as a “soul destroying” experience.

After the first week in the USA, the Dungiven woman said: “We have been here in St Louis for a week now and it’s been an amazing experience so far. The people are unbelievably helpful, St Louis is a great city and we have been wonderfully looked after at the Residence Inn and St Louis Children’s Hospital.

“We met Dr Park on Tuesday and he said she can achieve some independent walking in a year or two, we need to reduce the belly first though which is proving difficult over here.

“Eve had her operation yesterday and is very cranky but recovering well. She certainly hasn’t lost her appetite! It will be a long five days until Eve is discharged but it will all be worth it in the end.”

After the second week, Gina said: “Well week two was always going to be the hardest and so it proved to be, everyone says the op puts the kids back massively but it’s really soul destroying when it actually happens. Seeing your child in so much pain is pretty horrible but Eve has worked really hard at physio (two hours a day) and is getting back to where she was pre-operation.

“She can do some assisted crawling again and is getting better at the physio programme each day. The op has had a profound effect on her legs and left arm which seem much looser, it must feel very strange and will take some getting used to.

“We have Eve’s new ‘Kaye walker’ now and hope to start using it next week when she gets her new splints. Can’t wait to see her in it as it will give her lots of independence. It’s quite frustrating as we just want to see her walking but we know we need to build her back up first.

“We’ve made some really good friends here, many of them left this week and we wish them all well for the future. They have all gone home different children which gives us lots of hope for Eve.”

Local fundraising efforts to get Eve to this point have included a night of music put on by Cahir McLaughlin, Eve’s 12-year-old cousin, which raised a whopping £2,635 for the cause.

Other events have included a ‘Benedy Mini Marathon’ which took place near Dungiven, raising over £1,300.

Gina and her husband Davey have thanked everyone, both in England and in the Roe Valley area, who helped them raise the money needed for Eve’s surgery and trip to the USA.

The family are expecting to be back in the UK tomorrow week, by which time Eve will have completed her two-hours per day course of physiotherapy, and hopes are high that the operation and treatment will have been successful in allowing Eve to walk at some stage in the future.