My daughter's scoliosis fight is same fight I had 16yrs ago

A MUM whose five-year-old daughter who has recently been diagnosed with scoliosis, has been told they may have to wait eight months to a year just to get an MRI scan.

- BY NICOLA DONNELLY and DAVID RALEIGH

Carolann Walsh, who as a teenager fought her battle with the health service after her planned spinal fusion surgery was cancelled in 2009 due to ward closures, said she is “fighting the exact same fight” for Hannah.

It comes as Tanaiste Simon Harris has faced calls to resign following the death of nine-year-old Harvey Morrison Sherratt after he had waited years for crucial surgery.

Mr Harris, as Minister of Health back in 2017, vowed no child would be waiting longer than four months for their scoliosis surgery in Ireland.

Now Ms Walsh's daughter Hannah was just diagnosed with the condition where the spine curves abnormally.

MIGRAINES

In Hannah’ case, Carolann said the pressure on her spine is causing relentless headaches, sometimes escalating into migraines.

Carolann from Kilkenny told the Irish Star: “Yet we have been told it will be nine to twelve months before she can have the MRI scan needed to guide her treatment”

At the time Carolann’s planned surgery was cancelled back in 2009 she couldn't even get an X-ray.

She said: “It took media attention and a huge public outcry before I finally got my surgery date.

“That was September 2009 - and it changed my life. But now, 16 years later, I'm fighting the exact same fight - this time for my own child”

“I am terrified for her future. I've lived this. I know what untreated scoliosis can do.

“I've already got one child with generalised epilepsy, another with sensory issues - and now my middle child is facing what I went through. How can it be that nothing has changed after all these years?”

Carolann is calling for urgent action to address the growing backlog of children waiting for spinal assessments and treatment.

She added: “No child should have to wait in pain. No parent should have to beg the system for care.

“If the health service could find a way in 2009, it can find a way now.