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AN APPEAL IS being made on behalf of a five-year-old boy who is battling cancer for the second time in his life.
Max Birmingham from Longford was recently diagnosed for the second time in his life with stage four neuroblastoma cancer. His family aren’t asking for money, however. They’re asking for wrestling memorabilia.
“Mighty Max” is WWE-mad, his mother Cathy, told Low Blows, an Irish-based wrestling podcast.
“Wrestling is his big thing that’s all he talks about. He’d call you over to the trampoline to give you a hug and then he’d shout “RKO!”.
“He was limping after his second birthday, so I brought him to the doctor. He had a tumour on his adrenal gland, but it’s a cancer of the bones and bone marrow.
“He had chemo and radiotherapy and stem cell therapy and six months of therapy.”
After 18 months of treatment, Max was given the all-clear in September 2013. However, two weeks ago, his family were told that the cancer had returned.
Cathy says that this is a “completely different journey”, but that Max is keeping his spirits high.
“He’s a happy little boy, I do everything I can.”
Cathy says that advancements in treatment of the cancer has advanced to such a point that it makes it “the best outcome of a bad situation”.
Figures
Because of Max’s fascination with wrestling, Cathy posted on her Facebook page asking for any spare memorabilia that people could give while Max is in treatment.
That post was shared across the social network, ending up with Rick Nash of Low Blows, who organise wrestling viewing parties in Dublin.
At their upcoming event to screen WWE’s Money In The Bank pay-per-view in Dublin’s Woolshed (tickets €8.50), the organisers will collect memorabilia for Max, which will then be delivered to him.
Nash hopes wrestling fans will give generously.
“Max and his family aren’t looking for money, just toys that people already have and can afford to give away. It’s something so small for people, but it’d make a huge difference.”
Anyone who has memorabilia but can’t make the party can send it to TheJournal.ie, Golden Lane, Dublin 8.
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9 years to see a Urologist in Waterford.
@paul kelly: That’s taking the pi$$
@paul kelly: leo wouldn’t believe that now if he heard it, coming especially from waterford. He said as much a few months ago.
Cataract surgery waiting lists is ridiculous, maybe the government need to contact sight savers all over Africa doing this simple quick operation on how best to do it.
Or maybe we could just continue the circle of health getting totally out of control (we are there now) and watch on as the government offer up the head of the minister who took the poisoned chalice fully knowing that he/she will be looked after following the inevitable outcome and go on to do very well for themselves. Maybe even finding themselves giving out on behalf of the public about the new minister who received the chalice in full knowledge that they will be looked after. The cycle needs to be smashed
@Tommy C: we have one of the best funded health services in the world. Something very wrong with the HSE.
@Tommy C: more like circle of death by the time you are called for a operation.
@TRUMPS#BLIMP: Metrics used by HSE are daft.
Trolleys as a metric of waiting lists is wrong as it measures inputs.
You must measure the outputs of each and every HSE process …
Procedures per day per unit staff (10 or 100 or x staff .. whatever the international benchmark is …)
8 per day in UK NHS
6 per day in Irish private hospitals
4 per day in Irish public system
A few process specialists could solve this by reduction of number of handoffs, reduce in inter handoff dead times, …. there are experts who know how to fix the dreadful Irish health care system waiting lists …
Procedures per day as a key metric is a must to reduce waiting lists. HSE have enough money … 11% of GDP v 9% for other countries.
Go private, that’s the FG way.
@Dave Doyle: If you pay you get the service. Nothing to do with politics. He HSE does its best.
Unfortunate sentence that cataract patients waiting for surgery *see* waiting lists blah blah…. if the waiting list are so long they’ll see bugger all by the time they get a slot. Where is the editor?
That’s because we don’t have enough staff or funding. Every section of medical staff is going abroad for better money and better working conditions. Our hospitals are like cesspits. The HSE needs to be torn down, all the dead weight disposed of and a new, non corrupt organisation put together. There’s still far too much nepotism and corruption in the HSE, this means someone’s mate is getting the job over the right person, the most qualified and experienced person.
“That’s the standard technique of privatization: defund, make sure things don’t work, people get angry, you hand it over to private capital.”
Noam Chomsky,
Should of seen this coming
Patients on waiting lists don’t cost any money. It’s that simple.
This is dangerous and upsetting. Being on a waiting list with the HSE is like awaiting a prison sentence.
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