Bereaved mother faces first Christmas without daughter while helping another daughter fight cancer

Tina McElligott, from Kilflynn, Co Kerry, passed away last February following her lifelong battle with the rare disorder, Alpers disease.

The 17-year-old suffered dozens of life-threatening seizures daily as a result of the disease and Tina, fondly known as “princess”, confounded medics by living as long as she did as the majority of sufferers normally do not survive past the age of 12.

Tina died in her mother Mags and father Martin’s arms.

Their cousin Sarah Crowe, died from the same disease last year. Alpers is a progressive neurological disorder and symptoms include increased muscle tone with exaggerated reflexes, seizures and loss of cognitive ability.

But now Mags is facing the heartache of knowing her daughter Gene, who lives in Perth, Australia, has been diagnosed with bowel cancer.

Mags campaigned vigorously to legalise medicinal cannabis oil remedies for Tina and others and Tina was seizure-free for eight months following a medicinal cannabis oil treatment at the Kapala Clinic in Spain funded by public donations to the gofundme.com crowd funding page.

The Kerry mum now sells Billy's bud hemp oil and is the only agent in the Republic of Ireland selling it at moment. Mags wants to help other people with different conditions and wants medicinal cannabis legalised here as Charlotte Cadwell, Billy’s mum, has managed to secure legalisation allowing this in the UK and Northern Ireland.

“Life has been so different without Tina who was my princess and this Christmas will be tough without her. Now, my other daughter is going through a battle with cancer and it’s just so tough on her and us all." - Mags McElligott.

"Of course Gene’s cancer is a worry, to lose one daughter and I just can’t let anything happen to her.

“I’ve been out with her in Australia already this year as and I’m hoping to visit her next month to give some support. It’s been a very tough year but, hopefully, the new year will be a bit better.

“I must admit I was in disbelief that Tina was really gone when she passed away first. I carried on as if she was going to walk back through the door.

"I eventually got so low that I took to the bed and wouldn't get up only when I felt like it. I was crying so hard on the pillow holding on to a T-shirt Tina last wore and ended up sleeping with it every night."

Mags said that she has found that talking about her loss has helped her to cope with it.

She said: “Thankfully my sister Dea is helping me every day to cope with my loss and the cancer battle my other daughter is going through. Talking has and is helping me cope and it is a wonderful thing to do.

"I want others to realise that and I’m hoping to open a cafe next year in honour of Tina and in her name close to where we live.

“One day I decided to power hose the front of our home and I stopped for a minute and looked up at a site next door that we had bought a few years ago for Tina so she could be near to us. There is an old house which is around 100-years-old on it.

“So I called my husband and told him I had a great idea about refurbishing the house. He said he thought I was going mad. But the next I knew he was stuck in the middle of it stripping the cottage while I was taking all the plaster off it in an effort to keep ourselves busy and to stop ourselves thinking about losing Tina.

“At the moment we're waiting on planning permission to extend it and to make sure all the work on the building is right. We are going to call it Tina's Tonic Cafe in Kilflynn as Charlotte came up with the name.

"Tina was a tonic, a very honest funny girl and said things as they were."

"That’s why I want to open this cafe because Tina and I always chatted about how we felt about everything and I think it is good for others to do the same.”

Mags added that Christmas will never be the same again for the McElligotts as it was Tina’s favourite time of the year.

“It's almost Christmas and Tina and I loved it. She loved the lights and every day I would add extra decorations for her. Tina would say go on Mam put up more as she wanted to see what her Dad would say.

"Well I'll be putting up the lights this Christmas, as I know she would be mad at me, she would make me put them up at the end of October some years and I would, to please her. But it won't be the same, as she always helped me dress the tree in the kitchen.

“I visit her grave every day but I cannot feel her there like I feel her in the house we hope to open as a cafe. I don't know when her cafe will open as it all depends on planning and money but if it’s the last thing I do it will open.”