OVER €25,000 was raised through a GoFundMe campaign to help Shannon woman Joanne Begley with the costs of vital surgery in Barcelona.
In 2018 Joanne was diagnosed with a rare condition called Chiari Malformation, a herniation of the brain where it protrudes into the spinal canal. While there is no cure for it, its progression can be managed.
“I had two brain surgeries in Cork, one in 2018 and one in 2019. I was kind of left with a leak, a psuedomeningocele, it affected my balance, my sleep and the pain and stuff. They said in Ireland there was nothing more they could do for me. I went to Dublin for a second opinion, but they couldn’t do anything with the condition I have. It’s just getting progressively worse, I wake up every morning and my hands are stuck because the fluid around my brain isn’t going up and down properly,” she says.
While there was nothing more that she could get done in Ireland, she found there was help available abroad. “I researched Barcelona, they asked me to send over all my scans and my medical notes and I did and they asked me to come over for a consultation in September. I went to Garth Brooks first and then I got the flight that night over on my own, thinking it was just to tell me about the surgery.
“But when I got there they discovered I have three cysts on my spine, called syringomeilia, you get that with Chiari, but I was never diagnosed with in Ireland. I have scoliosis now too. Just the bloodflow around my brain is very poor, so I don’t have a choice to be honest with you.”
While her health insurance had taken care of the brain surgeries in Ireland, it wouldn’t cover what she requires in Spain, and she was all set to borrow for it. “I didn’t have a choice only to take a loan from the bank to pay for it. It was my god child, Claire Louise Lagan, who said we’ll do a GoFundMe and if you don’t make enough money you can borrow the rest. Then it just took off.”
Joanne said it was very touching to see how much support the community were giving to her, but when it got above €25,000 she decided it was time to close it down. “I said there’s enough there in the pot, let’s leave the rest for someone else who needs it.”
She really wants to stress how grateful she is for the generosity shown. “I don’t want to take more than I need, everyone is going through hard times now. Whether someone put up €5 or €500, it meant a lot to myself and my family.”
Having to deal with brain surgery is more than enough to be going on with, and she says the donations will make the recovery easier. “It’ll also cover the medication in the weeks afterwards and the travel costs as well, so it’s just a weight off of our shoulders.”
Since the GoFundMe went live she has received numerous cards and well wishes from people who had been made aware of her condition.
Active in a number of good causes locally, Joanne says the generosity shown towards her shows the strength of the community in Shannon. “There’s enough negativity about Shannon, that it’s a bad place, the teenagers are bad, that they’re wrecking things, but when you need support people come together. It really is a fabulous community to be part of.”
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked with a number of other publications in Limerick, Cork and Galway. His first book will be published in December 2024.
