A young woman who underwent life-saving surgery at Beaumont Hospital has vowed to raise research funds to help doctors and patients in the same situation as she was earlier this year.
Clare Kavanagh from Wexford was going about life normally in January 2023 before a persistent pain in her neck began giving trouble.
"I was going about life normally, working away, planning for the future, enjoying time with friends, family and looking forward," she explained.
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She says in "what seemed like a blink of the eye, all that changed" as she encountered health problems she first put down to an old injury or sleeping in a certain way.
"I had been experiencing persistent neck pain for months, going to physiotherapy and putting it down to an old injury or sleeping in a certain way," she explained.
When physio didn’t resolve it, Clare sought a referral for an MRI scan but still assumed it would relate to an old injury as nothing else was on our radar.
"The results of the MRI floored me," she said.
"It showed a large tumour growing inside my spinal cord. This tumour was located at the top of my spine, just below my brain stem. An extremely rare type of tumour, in a precarious location for treatment or surgery.
"The tumour sat in what is described as the ‘prime real estate’ area of the spine and surgery was the only option to remove it. Without this surgery I would have been left in a wheelchair, with further degenerative impacts thereafter."
As a young, fit woman, this was difficult to process for Clare as doctors explained life-altering risks and scenarios in the event of an unsuccessful surgery.
"I was referred to the top neurosurgical team in the country in Beaumont Hospital. Given the risks associated with the surgery, this team were the only team that could take this on. My only hope," Clare explained.
"Within five weeks of diagnosis I underwent a gruelling, highly precise, 12-hour surgery. The outcome of which was nothing short of a miracle. A miracle I put down to the skills, experience, and dedication of my medical team (and prayers of many!)"
The team of surgeons at Beaumont were able to remove all of the tumour, and while Clare now has a long road to recovery, she got the outcome she wished for.
"Due to the invasive nature of the surgery, I have had to learn to walk again and regain the use of my arms and hands," she said, but the Wexford woman is determined not only to build herself back again but also to raise funds to help others.
"I vowed before I went into hospital that, if by a miracle it could be removed, that I would do my very best to raise money for those who saved my life. My surgeon Professor Bolger asked that the money would go to the neurosurgery research and development fund in Beaumont.
"I plan on organising a fundraising concert when I am physically a bit more recovered but until then I wanted to get the ball rolling with a GoFundMe page. This money will contribute to the amazing work of that team and department, who quite literally do lifesaving work every day. We all know how broken the health system is, so these funds are so needed.
"If I can contribute in any tiny way to aiding the amazing work they do in Beaumont it’s the very least that I can do as I’ll never be able to repay them fully."
In less than 24 hours, Clare raised €6,000 with donations rolling in from all over the world. She thanked her family, friends and all contributors to the fundraising and told people to "keep your eyes peeled for concert details in the new year."
You can donate to Clare's GoFundMe page HERE.
