NEW Zealand boy who made an appeal through The Clare Champion for help in bringing her son home from rehab, has thanked the community in County Clare for its support.
Monday, March 18 marked six months since Tadhg Giles first became ill with an influenza A infection, which resulted in encephalitis leaving him severely cognitively impaired with inflammation in his brain. The young boy was treated in hospital at Auckland but, when his period in rehabilitation care ended, the family were faced with moving him back home without adequate and appropriate medical support.
As their home was not suitably adapted for Tadhg’s new needs, they were required to extensively modify their home with the local health board offering limited support.
However, with the combined help of their family, friends, and the Irish community in New Zealand, they were in a position to make the required modifications for a safer home for Tadhg to live in.
Speaking to The Clare Champion this week, Tadhg’s mother, Laura Devine-Giles who is originally from Kilkee, said they received several donations from County Clare and thanked people for their great generosity.
Tadhg’s transfer home by air ambulance from Auckland to Christchurch was very difficult, and Friday, March 1, was a tearful day, according to his mother.
Both Laura and her husband, Greg are now caring for their son at home where he needs constant supervision and the support of two adults at all times. The couple have support workers on a 24/7 basis, with some hours funded by Health New Zealand after they accepted a support package following five “wholly inadequate” proposals initially.
“Tadhg was intubated, back on a ventilator and under a general aesthetic for the medical flight. And he remained on the ventilator for 36 hours,” said Laura.
“When he came off, it took him ten hours to wake up. ICU doctors were about to place him back on it and breathing issues developed due to stridor and secretions. Thankfully, he cleared his throat the more awake he became, and we had only a short stay in the hospital. As it was not conducive environment for Tadhg to remain in, we went home on Friday evening.”
“We have significantly modified our home to allow for separate areas for Tadhg and our 2-year-old daughter Teagan, and a roster of friends helped care for Tadhg as well. From a medical perspective, it’s hard to say whether there would be further recovery but we are hopeful as there seems to be little improvements. The recovery is limited due to brain atrophy, we just don’t know, neurologists don’t know.
“Since moving back to our home Tadhg has become less agitated. This certainly makes the day to day a little less challenging than it was in Auckland. We feel though, it could be familiar surroundings here in the house, or is it because, everything is a little bit calmer and safer here for him?”
Over St Patrick’s weekend, Laura and Greg successfully took Tadhg out to the local park for a kick around, his first time travelling by car for six months, which he was happy about smiling during the journey.
As a result of his brain injury, Tadhg is significantly cognitively impaired, non verbal with no understanding of language or even simple instruction, and is incontinent. Prior to his infection, he was a chatty and outgoing boy who loved to play rugby and study maths.
He sang in a choir and was captain of his school’s kapa haka team. Whilst he is still not yet the boy he was, Laura said she is confident that six months on, as a family they are all beginning his new phase of recovery with more hope. Their battle to get Tadhg the best possible therapies, systems and support is ongoing and challenging however, they are encouraged as they can see improvements in his condition on a daily and weekly basis.
“He is on the floor beginning to inspect toys. The length of his attention and focus has improved, and he can sit still for longer times,” she said.
“His interactions with all my friends and support workers are positive. His dance moves are improving and his love of music remains. We know when he is hungry and he is eating well once time given time to process what it is. He follows some cues now. Whether following you, or directing his attention to something he drops. He is beginning to be very vocal with sounds to the point that one support worker has thought he said “mummy” and in the last few days, there is little significant agitation.”
The Irish community in Auckland and Christchurch has helped enormously both with running fundraising events for ongoing medical costs and to make modifications to the family’s home.
Galway man, Oliver Lee who lives in New Zealand has been a huge help with fundraising. He provided a media platform which meant private donations could come in and the campaign via the ‘Give a Little’ donation platform raised over $60,000 in New Zealand dollars. He also organised prizes of Munster and Irish rugby signed jerseys which raised $2500 at auction.
A ‘Tea for Tadhg’ nationwide event run by the Tara Trust and the Christchurch Irish Society brought in $3200 in donations. The Irish Mammies in New Zealand support group set up a silent online auction which raised $5800, and The Bog Irish bar in Christchurch held a quiz night and donation box on St Patrick’s Day raising $5000 in the process.
Once Tadhg returned home to Christchurch, the Irish community rallied around the Devine-Giles family with meal support and babysitting, and a team of “wonderful Irish mammies” provided wraparound support whilst they were at the hospital in Auckland. Despite receiving an increase in financial support from their local health board, the family still have a long and tough road ahead of them.
The Kilkee woman is grateful to her Irish barrister Bronagh McKenna who advocated for government support funding and helped in getting them home with a sustainable living support package.
Sharon Dolan D’Arcy covers West Clare news. After completing a masters in journalism at University of Galway, Sharon worked as a court reporter at the Sligo Weekender. She was also editor of the Athenry News and Views.