Cian loses his battle for life
The community of Carlanstown near Moynalty and wider communities in Meath, Cavan, Louth and Westmeath are mourning the sad passing of four-year-old Cian McDonnell on Monday evening.
Cian, who urgently needed a double lung transplant, lost his brave battle for life surrounded by his parents Lisa McDonnell and Donal Lynch and sister Chloe in Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin.
The family had been hoping to take Cian to Boston for life-saving surgery and a fund 'Hope for Cian’ had already raised hundreds of thousands of euro towards the estimated $1m cost.
On the 'Hope for Cian’ Facebook page on Monday evening, his heartbroken parents wrote: “Our beautiful boy is with the angels now. He fought so hard. Heaven is so lucky to have him. We are broken hearted. His Mammy, Daddy and big sister Chloe held his hand until the end. Fly high our beautiful boy where there will be no more suffering or pain.”
It prompted an outpouring of thousands of messages of condolences for the family on social media.
Cian’s pre-school teacher Therese O’Brien from Early Years Pre-school in Carlanstown told the Celt yesterday: “We just devastated, it was a real shock in the end.”
Describing Cian as a “fantastic boy” who was “as strong as any of the others here and up for anything”, Therese added: “I didn’t think when he was leaving me two weeks ago that he wouldn’t be back.”
Last week Cian underwent a liver biopsy and PEG insertion in Crumlin Children’s Hospital, and was being treated in the high dependency unit there, but took a turn on Sunday morning and passed away on Monday evening.
He was suffering from a very severe form of Dyskeratosis Congenita which affects one in a million.
Cian’s family brought him home on Monday night and funeral arrangements are expected to be announced tomorrow for later this week.
The committee set up to raise funds for Cian's appeal declined to comment until they had first spoken with members of the McDonnell family, but wished to thank everyone who supported the cause in recent months.