Fundraiser launched for life-saving treatment of toddler just weeks after sister's death
It is understood that time is critical for one-year-old Éabha Duggan
The Duggan family of Mayo and Galway are making an urgent appeal for financial support as their one-year-old daughter Éabha prepares for a life-saving bone marrow transplant in Utrecht.
This heart-breaking situation comes just weeks after the family lost their three-year-old daughter Saoirse to the same rare genetic condition which resulted in her own battle with leukaemia.
Now, their one-year-old requires a bone marrow transplant, a treatment not currently available in Ireland. Her only option is to travel to Prinses Máxima Centrum in Utrecht, a world-leading specialist children’s hospital in the Netherlands.
For parents Tommy and Martina Duggan, this is an unimaginable second journey to go through. Their eldest daughter, Saoirse, bravely battled leukaemia after being diagnosed in late 2023.
The youngster underwent a bone marrow transplant in February 2024 but the disease returned months later. She passed away peacefully on June 15 of this year.
"To face such loss and now fight for another child’s life is more than any family should have to bear," says Éabha’s aunt, Anne Marie, who has launched a fundraising campaign with the family’s permission.
"While the medical costs for Éabha’s transplant are covered by the HSE, the overwhelming financial burden of travel and related living expenses in the Netherlands falls entirely on the family."
It is understood that time is critical for the toddler.
The 'Together for Éabha' GoFundMe campaign has been established in response to the many friends, neighbours, and kind-hearted people who’ve asked how they can help.
This initiative aims to alleviate the significant financial strain, allowing Tommy, a Mayo native and Martina, from Galway, to focus solely on their daughter's treatment and recovery.
All donations will go directly to the Duggan family to support Éabha's medical care and associated costs.
To donate today, you can go here.