'Starstruck' mother thankful as son gets op after big donation from Conor McGregor
MMA star Conor McGregor’s donation of €10,000 has been credited with ‘changing our lives,’ by a woman raising funds for her five-year-old son.
Grainne McCullough says the donation made by McGregor meant her son Bryan had an operation to replace a nasal feeding tube done privately.
He needed the tube after contracting sepsis last year and although he survived he is unable to eat or walk.
Grainne says her son, known as Bru, “is a warrior.”
She set up the Gofundme page originally to raise the €10,000 to have his nasal feeding tube replaced with one that goes under his skin and directly into his stomach.
She did this because Bru, who is her only child, had been pulling out his nasal tube every day causing him and her distress.
In September she got an email confirming the donation of €10,000 from the star.
She said that thanks to all the donations, and particularly the single large one from Conor McGregor, her son, known as Bru, had the procedure last month.
“Conor McGregor changed our lives. I would just love to say thanks very much to him for the donation,” she said from their home in Drogheda, county Louth today.
It will allow Bru to have a good Christmas now the procedure is over and done with,” she said.
The operation was done on November 26 and she says it has greatly improved his quality of life.
Bru goes to St Mary’s special needs school in Drogheda and Grainne said, “His teacher said that since he got the tube out he is like a different child.”
“He is so happy, he used to get very irritated and would choke when the feed was on because he could feel it going down. All of that is gone now, it is great. I don’t have to worry about him pulling it (the feeding tube) out,” she said.
She said that when she saw the donation from Conor McGregor, “I was star struck.”
She said the family always watched his fights and are fans of the MMA fighter.
Bru also has cerebral palsy and Grainne said she is keeping the fundraising page open because she wants to explore treatments outside Ireland that might help him to walk again.
I was looking into alternative treatments for people with brain damage. Id love to give him the best chance I can.
She also wants families to watch out for signs of sepsis. “Sepsis awareness all the way. If your child is sick and you think things are not right, say it. Just ask is it sepsis because it is so treatable if it is got in time.”
https://www.gofundme.com/help-for-bru
