Joy as Ireland’s first children’s hospice opens
Dublin People 01 Oct 2011
THE first
children’s hospice in Ireland celebrated its official launch by the President
of Ireland, Mary McAleese, at the Children’s Sunshine Home in Leopardstown last
week.
The
?¬5.5 million
required to build and fit-out the house was raised entirely through fundraising
over the past seven years by both the Children’s Sunshine Home and the former
LauraLynn Hospice Foundation.
The Children’s
Sunshine Home cares for children up to 18-years-of-age with life limiting
conditions and their families by providing high quality transitional care, home
support and respite.
The LauraLynn
House will provide these services in a unit designed and built specifically for
this purpose.
The house has
eight bedrooms, each with an en-suite facility and comfortable living
accommodation. Four family suites will enable families to stay near their child
when visiting the Children’s Sunshine Home.
The house also
includes a quiet room, meeting room and multisensory playroom, bathroom and
garden. The Butterfly Suite will provide a resting place for the child and
family after the child has passed away.
President McAleese
said nothing and no one could make easy the experience of the illness, dying
and death of a child.
“The loss of a
child is utterly life-altering but there are ways in which some of the dread,
some of the fear, some of the awful loneliness can be assuaged,
? she said.
“That is what the
LauraLynn House exists for. It is our first hospice devoted to the very
specific needs of sick and dying children. Here, dying children who cannot
remain at home can spend their final days surrounded by familiar possessions
and faces, in a home from home environment, away from the impersonal and often
intimidating world of a hospital ward.
?
Philomena Dunne,
the CEO of the Children’s Sunshine Home added:
“This is a momentous day for us,
our families, supporters and all other families across the country. We aim to
put life into a child’s day and to care for all the family in times of
difficulty.
“We are ever
grateful for the tremendous support we have received over the years and hope
people will continue to support the Children’s Sunshine Home so that we may
reach out to more families in need, here and in their homes.
?
Jane McKenna and
husband Brendan formed the LauraLynn Hospice Foundation in 2001 after they lost
both of their daughters, Laura and Lynn, in the space of just two years.
In 2007, the
Children’s Sunshine Home and the LauraLynn Hospice Foundation joined forces.
Speaking at the
launch last week, Jane said:
“It is wonderful to see this dream come to
fruition. Our huge thanks go out to so many amazing people, who gave their time
and generosity throughout the years. Laura and Lynn will be very happy that
something so joyful has come as a result of their short lives and our sad loss.
?
There are
approximately 350 child deaths and more than 1,400 children living with life
limiting or threatening conditions in Ireland each year.
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