Tag Archives: Agnes O’Shaughnessy

Shannon boy’s mother urges support for children’s charity that has given her son, 12, so much joy WITH Alex O’Shaughnessy having had to battle a rare form of cancer, the pandemic has been a little bit more difficult for his family. Alex, from Purcell Park, is in sixth class at St Conaire’s, and has had a difficult few years fighting the rare condition Rhabdomyosarcoma, but is doing well at the moment, according to his mother Agnes. “He’s good, he’s doing well. He went back to school a few weeks ago and his health is starting to come back, so he’s doing very well.” Alex has had very intensive treatment for his illness, and there was a little bit of normality returning just before lockdown. “Last February we went to Barretstown for a family weekend, and that was the start of us trying to get back to some kind of life, but then lockdown happened. “He was still on treatment until …

“THE comment where he said that it is winter and there is an increase in viruses, that children that are having chemotherapy shouldn’t come to hospital. Where does he propose we go?” Shannon’s Agnes O’Shaughnessy has a lot to be angry about this week. Bad enough that her 10-year-old son was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year, bad enough that he had to get some of his treatment abroad, bad enough that he was hit by an 11-day delay for his last round of chemotherapy at the National Children’s Hospital, without the Taoiseach making such comments. Make no mistake, insult has been added to injury. She says the other parents of children suffering with cancer are also unhappy. “We have a closed Facebook group and all the other parents are confused about that comment. Where does he propose we go? We can’t not have chemotherapy from November to April. The new children’s hospital won’t be available for three years. Alex …

THERE is nothing stronger than the paternal bond and when a child is sick there is an inherent instinct as a parent to do whatever it takes to fight for them. That was never more true for the O’Shaughnessy family in Shannon because it was the most subtle of behavioural and physical changes that led them to Accident and Emergency with their 10 year old son Alex. Their gut instincts told them something just wasn’t right and their persistence to get to the root of it led to the diagnosis of a rare form of cancer, a one in a million case, normally only detected when the condition is at an advanced stage. “The first time we were worried was Paddy’s Weekend [2019]. We went away to Galway for Alex’s twin brothers 21st. Alex wasn’t himself and was tired. He was just misery, we could see he was trying but he physically couldn’t. We took him to Shannondoc the Tuesday …