A LOCAL community has come together to help a four-year-old neighbour overcome his disabilities and learn to walk for the first time.
Little Sam Grant, from Clonee, was born following a traumatic delivery on August 24, 2010.
He spent his first days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and two months after birth he was diagnosed with poor muscle tone, poor suck reflex and severe reflux.
He was put on oxygen and could only be fed through a tube and was in and out of Temple Street Hospital with various illnesses.
At one stage doctors feared he had contracted deadly Swine Flu and Sam was placed on life support for 17 heartbreaking days.
Sam bravely clung to life but was dealt a further blow when he was diagnosed with potentially life threatening encephalitis during his recovery.
Parents Hilda and Dave were devastated, but what came next brought their world to a complete standstill. Neurologists told them baby Sam was cortically blind, would never walk or talk and worst of all, had only a few months to live.
Sam finally came home to pass away peacefully in June 2011 with a ton of medical equipment, a heaven-sent 24 Hour Palliative Care Team in tow and much appreciated support from the Jack & Jill Foundation.
But brave Sam had other ideas. Somehow, with loving family support, he found the strength to keep going and made it past his first birthday.
At 18 months he was weaned off his feeding tube and was managing without the support of his oxygen machine. By his second birthday the 24-hour palliative care team were withdrawn from the home.
To this day Sam not only continues to defy the odds, but he now has a chance to finally take his first steps. And the Clonee community is digging deep to do everything possible to get him on his feet.
Sam has been attending First Steps Therapy Centre, just outside Limerick, where neurological specialists believe that with intensive therapy there’s hope that Sam might just walk.
However, it’s expensive, and the cost soon put an unbearable strain on the family’s finances. That’s when family friend, Elaine Swift, persuaded the Grants to allow her set up a charity, Sam’s Steps, to help continue his therapy.
We have only been in existence since early November but have gained unprecedented local support through our Facebook page
‘Sam’s Steps’,
? she told Northside People. Elaine knew Sam’s mother Hilda through sharing school runs and father Dave through their involvement with local soccer club, Clonee United.
“I would have run into Dave at a few club functions and I just felt that if we can do something for the football club why can’t we help one of our own,
? she said.
“Sam has been through it all. He was deemed terminally ill. It’s only in the last couple of months that the family has started to believe he’s going to survive.
“Basically it’s a neurological problem he has. There’s no reason his legs can’t work. It’s just that his brain isn’t sending the signals to his legs.
?
The fundraising campaign has got massive support, with over 2,200 pledging their approval on the Sam’s Steps Facebook page.
“We’re only going a short time but we’ve done a few things already,
? said Elaine.
“The teenage kids from St Peter’s, along with the mammys, did bag packing during Christmas week in Dunnes Stores in Ongar. In a short space of time we’ve made a lot of connections.
?
Locals businesses, big and small, have made spot prize donations for a sold-out benefit night in the Paddocks on January 30 and Sam’s Steps are planning more events over the coming months.
“The support has been amazing,
? Elaine said. We even had an anonymous donation of
?¬1,000 at the start of the campaign from somebody who just happened to hear about it from a neighbour of Sam’s.
“It’s exceeded everybody’s expectations. The family can afford now to let the consultant put a proper plan in place knowing that the funds are there.
?
However, the treatment will be on-going and fundraisers will continue until Sam eventually takes his first steps.
“We have a lot of sports memorabilia coming in including signed Katie Tayor gloves and gloves framed in a case and signed by three medal winning Olympians including Michael Carruth,
? added Elaine.
?¢ Information on the campaign can be found on Facebook by searching for Sam’s Steps and donations made securely online at www.idonate.ie/samssteps