THE HISTORY OF LAURALYNN CHILDREN’S HOSPICE

I have teamed up with Fairy Non-Bio who will be donating to LauraLynn Children’s Hospice from every pack of Fairy Non-Bio Pods and Fairy Non-Bio Fabric Softener sold between now and mid-July. Fairy Non-Bio have committed to make a minimum donation of €25,000 to LauraLynn later this summer.

 

THE HISTORY OF LAURALYNN

LauraLynn, Ireland’s Children’s Hospice was born out of the sadness of the tragic loss of Jane and Brendan McKenna’s only children, Laura and Lynn. Laura passed away in August 1999 at the age of 4, following surgery to repair a heart defect. Her big sister Lynn died less than 2 years later, in April 2001, at the age of 15. Lynn had leukemia, which was diagnosed on the day of Laura’s last surgery.

 

Having dealt personally with such serious illness both Jane and Brendan saw a huge need for a ‘Home from Home’ for children with life threatening and life limiting conditions. In 2003 they set up the ‘LauraLynn Children’s Hospice Foundation’ to raise funds to build Ireland’s first Children’s Hospice.

 

In 2007 they were approached by representatives of the ‘Children’s Sunshine Home’ which is their current location. The following year the two organisations merged and LauraLynn, Ireland’s Children’s Hospice was born. As a result of this Ireland’s first Children’s Hospice became a reality in 2011.

 

The main aim of LauraLynn is to provide palliative care to children with life-limiting conditions both in their hospice facility and the child’s own home. They also very importantly provide special care and respite to parents and siblings, helping them to cope with their difficult situation and to have fun time together as a family making memories.

 

They are committed to improving the quality of children’s palliative care in Ireland and their Clinical Education and Training Department provides training programmes tailored to meet the key needs of the evolving disciplines required by health professionals working in this relatively new space.

 

The history of the hospice actually dates back to 1925 when it was a convalescent home. Dr Ella Webb, a pioneering Dublin pediatrician of her time, treated many cases of children with rickets.  With the support of a dedicated group including Ms. Letitia Overend, they saw the need to provide medical care within a residential setting, where tenement children with rickets could be given an opportunity to recover fully, before returning to home.

 

Funding at the time came from voluntary donations and this early ethos of providing care for disadvantaged children has continued to motivate those who work and continue to work and volunteer at LauraLynn today.

 

Brendan and Jane’s daughter Lynn wrote this beautiful poem I would love to share with you:

 

The Fairy Non-Bio ‘Care for Others’ campaign will help to support the LauraLynn@Home care which is offered in 11 counties in Ireland. This will enable children with life-limiting conditions and their family to access palliative care and support within their own home. For further information click here.

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