The mother of a child with untreated scoliosis has said it is “upsetting” that the budget does not seem to have allocated additional funds to help their children.
Keara’s son, Darragh Higgins, was born in 2011 and is now nearly 13.
He was born with spina bifida and it later turned out he has scoliosis as well; it is a progressive condition and his spine is becoming increasingly bent.
“It was said to me at quite an early age that eventually Darragh would need surgery for his spine to be corrected,” Keara told The Hard Shoulder.
“Here we are in 2024 and it’s at 120 degrees.”
In 2017, Simon Harris was Minister for Health and said waiting times for scoliosis surgery were “appalling”; he promised no child would have to wait more than four months for surgery.
Seven years on and Darragh is one of a number of scoliosis patients who have waited significantly longer than four months for treatment.
“I had faith in the system that whatever Darragh needed would be provided for him in a timely manner,” Keara said.
“I never imagined finding myself here with him being untreated for so long.
“I heard other people discussing it in the background but as Darragh was still being seen and x-rays were being taken, I just trusted he was being looked after and he would be seen to when it was his turn.
“I became seriously concerned a year and a half or two years ago.”
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Keara described her son as a “lovely boy” who should have been treated long ago.
“I think he deserves timely intervention - as do all the kids - and I think it’s completely unnecessary for Darragh to be dealing with extra issues on top of his underlying condition,” she said.
“It’s just adding extra weight where there doesn’t need to be by leaving the scoliosis untreated.”
In yesterday’s budget, the Department of Health was allocated a record €25.8 billion - but no mention was made of children with scoliosis.
“It is upsetting to hear that money isn’t an issue in the matter, so it seems to be a time and organisation issue that’s happening,” Keara said.
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Main image: A scoliosis specialist physician looking at a patient's x-ray. Picture by: Ivan Spasic / Alamy Stock Photo
