Big steps for brave Megan in the US

UNWRAPPING their Christmas presents last year, the Malone family didn’t expect this year they would be spending the festive season in New York in a desperate bid to save their daughter’s life.

While New York wasn’t where they had planned to be, the family certainly made it a very special Christmas.
The whole family has moved to the US so Megan can receive treatment for a rare form of cancer at the New York Presbyterian Hospital.
Just days before Christmas, three-and-a-half year-old Megan gave her parents John and Sheila the most special present of all by walking on her own for the first time in months.
Her mother Sheila explained that Megan walked across the room of the hospital when she was brought by her father for a check-up.
“I couldn’t believe it when John told me. When she got in we didn’t ask her to walk, we didn’t want it to be exhausting her but she said ‘look at me, I can walk’ and walked off across the sitting room, I couldn’t believe it, it was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. She was so delighted with herself.”
According to dad John, there was “great excitement” in the Malone house at Christmas, with Santa bringing plenty of presents for everyone, including Megan’s little brother, Tristan; big brother, Dylan and big sister, Chloe.
Megan received a make-up kit and a puppy clinic from the ‘man in red’. “I think she’s going to be a doctor when she grows up,” John said.
The Malones kept in touch with family and friends back in Ireland via Skype, with everyone delighted to see Megan walking again.
However, while the family enjoyed a wonderful Christmas Day, Megan became ill that evening with the flu and has now been diagnosed with a bacterial blood infection. It is likely that she will remain hospitalised into the new year. “We are delighted that at least we all got to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day together,” said John.
The family are optimistic that Megan will continue to respond well to her treatment. “She is in pretty good form,” John added.
The Malone family left Ireland for New York in early December, just months after Megan was diagnosed with a highly malignant brain tumour, as well as multiple smaller tumours in her brain and spine.
Doctors in Ireland gave her little chance of survival. However, doctors in New York are hopeful that their treatment will help the little girl. Megan is from a well-known Clare family, being the grand-daughter of Michael John and Kay Malone from Ballyalla. Megan’s father John and mother Sheila now live in Cork with the rest of their family.
Megan’s family in Clare and Cork rallied around, gathering support for a massive fundraising effort as the treatment in America was estimated to cost in excess of €300,000.
The Megan Malone Trust has received more than €170,000 in donations, which will help cover the family’s costs in the US, while an anonymous donor has offered to cover Megan’s medical treatment.