Story

Thank you for taking the time to visit our fundraising page.

Cycle for Cillian is being organised as a way of celebrating our little boy Cillian's memory and also to fundraise for two fantastic charities who were such an immense help to us when Cillian became ill so suddenly post birth and when he sadly passed away - Feileacain - Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Association of Ireland and NMH Foundation (Helping Holles Street). All funds raised here will go directly to these great causes.

Cillian's story

After a very smooth pregnancy, Cillian rushed into the world at 7:11pm on June 24th 2020 - a beautiful and perfectly healthy, 7lb 7oz baby with a long back like his Daddy!  Later that night, one of the midwives noticed his breathing was laboured and the Paeds team moved him to the High Dependency Unit (HDU) for some help breathing.  Unfortunately, no one predicted what the next 12 hours would bring.

On the morning of June 25th, I got to spend over an hour with him in HDU where he looked quite cosy in his incubator and he was doing well.  I had to leave before the staff changed over and it was during doctor's rounds later that morning that Cillian's condition deteoriated dramatically and he was transferred to NICU.  Brian and I were called in by the Consultant in NICU to say that Cillian had contracted Group B Strep which had graduated to sepsis and meningitis and that his condition was critical.

Walking into NICU to see him surrounded by a team of doctors and nurses, attached to multiple wires and machines is an image we will never get out of our heads.  The next 3 hours were a blur.  The amazing team in NICU tried everything but the infection had taken hold, Cillian's heart began to fail and it soon became clear there was nothing that could be done.  He passed away in our arms at 2:20pm - just over 19 hours after he was born.

We subsequently learnt that Group B Strep (GBS) is a common bacterium which is carried by 2–4 in 10 women at any given time.  Many babies come into contact with GBS during labour or around birth. The vast majority of these babies will not become ill. Around 1 in every 1,750 newborn babies in the UK and Ireland is diagnosed with early-onset GBS infection. The infections that GBS most commonly causes in newborn babies are sepsis (infection of the blood), pneumonia (infection in the lungs) and meningitis (infection of the fluid and lining around the brain). Of the babies who develop early-onset GBS infection, 1 in 19 (5.2%) will die and, of the survivors, 1 in 14 (7.4%) will have a long-term disability - all in all, basically less than 0.002% chance of this happening to Cillian.

As Cillian was a full term, healthy newborn, his system began fighting the infection internally (described to us as being like a swan - looks perfect above the water but frantically paddling underneath trying to fight it) and the only sign he was struggling was his laboured breathing - which is actually more commonly associated with a quick delivery which his had been.  When he was transferred to HDU he had been given an antibiotic as standard practice and even with that the infection had already taken hold.

Hand on heart, we can say that Cillian and I received the best possible care in Holles St and will be forever thankful to the team there for all of their efforts to save Cillian, hence our fundraising efforts for their Foundation.

From the moment we left NICU with Cillian, Feileacáin's support kicked into action.  They link in with the bereavement teams in maternity units across all of the hospitals in Ireland.  They provided us with a cold cot which allowed us to have Cillian in the room with us that first night, a beautiful memory box and a book to help us to explain Cillian's death to Rían.  Before we came home with Cillian, a volunteer from Feileacáin called to our house and set up another cold cot which meant we could have Cillian with us right up until the funeral - 3 nights which meant the world to us.  In the months that followed, Feileacáin kept in touch and even dropped out Cillian's footprints and a personalised candle to our house in person.  We hope that no other family we know ever has to encounter their services but we want to fundraise as a way to thank Feileacáin and also to help them to continue to provide these invaluable services.

The Cycle

The cycle is due to take place on Saturday 31 July, leaving Dundrum, Dublin at c.7am in the hope that we'll make it to Carraroe, Sligo - a mere 210km away! - by c.7pm.  Lots of training has been ongoing since the depths of the dark, rainy days in January in anticipation for the event.  The majority of riders are completing the entire cycle with a handful joining in a different stages along the way.  Hopefully, the weather will play ball and we can have an outdoor homecoming in Sligo to celebrate the cyclists' acheivements, the fundraising efforts and Cillian's memory.

A huge thank you to the 28 cyclists taking part - without whom none of this fundraising would be possible:

Brian McCaffrey

Padraig McCaffrey

Ciaran McCaffrey

Ray Finan

Frank Larkin

Liam Larkin

Liam Devane

John Noel Cunningham

Kealan Bolton

Ross McCullough

Eoin O'Carroll

Sean Fitzhenry

Paul Foley

Tim Hegarty (in Australia)

Paddy Tiernan

Damian O'Halloran

Padraig Walsh

Rory Quinlan

Ger Barry

Sean McGarrell

Stephen Larkin

Peter Morgan

Gareth Collins

Iain Leslie

Barry Doyle

John Sheridan

Donal Farrelly

Ronan Barrett

We hope you can support by donating whatever you can. Simply click the Donate button above. All donations are processed securely.

Many thanks in advance,

Laura, Brian & Rían - and baby Cillian in the sky xxxx