This little Wicklow girl with rare condition needs your help
Poppy Mernagh is two-and-a-half.
Her parents Jennifer Tymlin and Edward Mernagh describe her as “very independent, vibrant and quite advanced for her age.”
But just a few weeks ago, the little girl was struck down with the enterovirus and pneumonia. Devastatingly, this turned into something much more serious – a condition called Transverse Myelitis.
A rare condition, it affects just 1 in 800,000. It’s an inflammation of the spinal cord, causing damage to the nerve fibres that could be irreversible.
The little one is currently in ICU in Dublin’s Temple Street hospital where doctors are working hard to reduce the inflammation.
But unfortunately, the treatment is not proving as successful as her parents were hoping. And she’s in a bad way.
That’s why friends of the family have set up the Poppy Mernagh Fund, with an accompanying Facebook page.
“Poppy’s current condition is not good. She is paralysed from the chin down and is unable to breathe by herself,” they wrote on Facebook.
“Until the inflammation has gone down, the doctors cannot determine whether the damage is permanent or not.”
Her condition caused her to develop Non-Polio Acute Flaccid Paralysis, which is why things are so bad for her. Poppy is expected to be in Temple Street for at least six months, and then she’ll have to spend another stint in a rehab centre – none of which will come cheap for the family.
“We have set up this page to try and relieve the financial burden on Jed, Ed and Poppy’s family at this devastating time,” wrote their friends.
“Life has to continue and the cost of travelling to and from the hospital, parking, food, hospital accommodation and the regular household bills all need to be covered.”
“Due to Poppy’s hospitalisation, Jen has had to cease employment to be with Poppy. Any donation is greatly appreciated.”
If you want to help little Poppy and her struggling family, click below.