Thompson family-LauraLynn
We’re Carla and Kris Thompson. We’re from Mullingar, Co Westmeath and Lucy Thompson is our daughter. Lucy is our eldest girl of two….
Amy McSweeney
Hi, my name is Amy McSweeney and I’m from Middleton County Cork. Our daughter Emily is 11 years old….
Kayleigh and Nikita O’Connor
My name is Kayleigh, and I have a four year old girl called Nikki, and she has acute lymphoblastic leukemia. ….
Sylvie's Story
On October 10th, 2013, my husband and I suffered a devastating blow:
Our beautiful 8-month-old baby girl, Sylvie, was diagnosed with a brain tumour….
Sean's Story
In 2001 in Limerick, a remarkable little baby, Sean Holland, announced himself proudly to the world…..
Holly's Story
Holly is our middle child with an older brother Andrew, and a younger sister Delphi…..
Caoimhe’s Story
Siobhan and Martin Murphy heard the phrase used along with the words ‘Jouberts Syndrome’. They were receiving news of their infant daughter Caoimhe’s diagnosis….
Michael's Story
Michael is Mary’s first born child and she was looking forward to his birth. All scans were perfect and she had a trouble free pregnancy. As Michael was breach position a caesarean section was booked, but otherwise all was well and on 07.02.94 Michael was born and ‘everything was fine’….
Sam & Isabella Villena
Hi, I’m Sam and this is my daughter Isabella. She’s nine. Isabella was born with a rare neurological condition called Aicardi Syndrome and she was diagnosed at four days old. So when we got Isabella’s diagnosis, it was like our world was turned upside down…..
The Creegan family’s story
When Katie got out of hospital, she had a central line in so we had a visit from the community nurse, quite regular. And she knew, the community nurse knew that we were … not struggling … we were glad to have Katie home….
Claire Gray – Matilda’s mummy
Basically Matilda was palliative care from she was five days old. It was 10 to 5 in the afternoon on a Thursday and the consultant said, ‘your little girl has a very serious condition, it’s called Edwards Syndrome, Trisomy 18’….
Olive Tumulty's Story
My daughter Katie was born in 2010 at 31 weeks so she was premature. She was in hospital for the first six months of her life. After a lot of tests, we got a diagnosis of mitochondrial disease which we had never heard about before and we were told that it was a life-limiting condition….
Chris Herdman and daughter Aideen's Story
I’m just on my way down to pick Aideen up from the Special Care Unit which she attends Monday to Friday from 9 till about half 2. And Aideen’s Special Care Unit, this week are having their fun week so I decided to dress up as Captain American to try and fit in with them all down there……
Caroline Gorrigan
Hi I’m Caroline, I work in LauraLynn on the community team. So Lauralynn was founded by the McKenna family and they had two young girls who very sadly passed away within a short space of time….
Hayden McLafferty
My name is Hayden, I’m 17 and I live in Clondalkin. When I was a baby I cant remember that much but I had numerous surgeries to see whats goin on with my heart, couldn’t fix it….
Emma's Story
“Emma’s going off to the moon”. This was the ingenious way three and a half year-old Billy Heffernan found words to explain his infant sister’s passing. His dad Fergie had just broken it to him that Emma was ‘going’. So now every night Billy waves at the moon and tells Emma he loves her…..
Muireann's Story
A place I consider beautiful may seem strange but to me it is the most beautiful place in the world. It is the place where my sister sleeps in a covered wooden bed with her favourite toys and a picture of my family, her blanket, earth and her precious flowers. It is her grave…..
Victoria's Story
In early 2012, Brian and Sharon Thompson were told their only and beautiful daughter, Victoria, was going to die. But as well as coping with that, they also began to realise they would have to fight to secure the best end-of-life care for her….
LauraLynn and Children's Health Ireland
Martina Crummy provides insight into her work at LauraLynn Children’s Hospice and Children’s Health Ireland
Regent House School - School Bereavement Programme
Watch the video by Regent House School where Megan and Darcy share their experiences of losing a parent and the vital role bereavement support plays in schools.
Share your story with us
Email us at info@aiihpc.org if you are interested in sharing your story with us.
In early 2012, Brian and Sharon Thompson were told their only and beautiful daughter, Victoria, was going to die. But as well as coping with that….
My name is Karen Kelly and I am the Macmillan Health & Wellbeing Coordinator in the South-Eastern Trust. My job is to provide information and support…..
My name is Marie. I was married to Declan for over 40 years. In December 2021 he was diagnosed with stage four oesophagus cancer…..
I’m Marian Meehan. I’m 69 years of age now. I’m here in St Francis. I have a tumor on the lung and I have five lymph nodes on the back of the chest bone…..
My name is Hilary Neville, and I’m an Irish Cancer Society night nurse. I’ve been working with the Irish Cancer Society for the last 26 years in this capacity…..
Jack was born in the East End of London, and proud to be a Londoner. Um, moved back to Galway in 2006, and he went to school here in St. Mary’s…..
My name is Alan Bradley. I was born in a place called O’ Devaney gardens in Dublin. I got married over forty years. I have a beautiful wife. I have two lovely sons…..
My name is Carmel and I live in Monivea, Galway. I’m not from there, but I moved here about five years ago and about two years in, my mom had just passed away…..
My name is Hayden, I’m 17 and I live in Clondalkin. When I was a baby I cant remember that much but I had numerous surgeries to see whats goin on with my heart…..
My name is Aisling and I’m 47, I’m a mother of one and this is my husband Peter. In 2019 I went into hospital with back pain and was diagnosed…..
Hi my name is Anna Lambert, Im a nurse, I work in Knockeen Nursing Home in Barntown in County Wexford. Knockeen Nursing Home was opened just over 20 years ago…..
Well I’m Tony Lawlor from Killarney. Well I’m a Chief retired, I love sport, football, hurling, rugby, swimming, walking you name it boxing. I’m married to Agnes 45 years…..
My own view on palliative care is that it’s not just about someone who is coming near the end of their life. I think palliative care should be available…..
The hospice to me is a life saver because I’ll tell you, if I hadn’t gone in when I did, I don’t think I would be here now, I was that bad but I wouldn’t give in…..
I found a lump in May 2014 and they did the standard scans to check the rest of my body and unfortunately within two weeks I was diagnosed with secondary cancer….
Belinda my daughter, my youngest daughter, was diagnosed with terminal cancer whenever she was 24. She worked as long as she could…..
Donal was quite ill. He got a very bad chest infection, pneumonia, I suppose. He was very, very ill and he had to go into the regional hospital….
I am Colette Grealish Keane and I’m from Mervue and I lived a good few years in Tuam so I’m back in Galway now again. What I done for a living was home help….
I think when people hear the words palliative care they automatically associate it with the end of life, and actually what palliative care….
Well my name is Carmel and my husband Eamon died Christmas of 2015. He had had an underlying blood disorder and it eventually changed….
My name is Gerard O’Hare, I’m 52 years of age and I suffer from Motor Neurone Disease. It was a hard time adjusting. It took a wee while for me to get my head around it….
My dad was diagnosed with cancer when he was 54 and he passed away when he was 57. It was nine o’clock at night and the consultant and the nurse came into the room….
My name is Karen Lavery, and I live in the North in Co. Armagh in a place called Aghalee. My uncle Seán was a seaman for many years, and he left home when he was 16…..
Hi, my name is Marian Mawhinney, I’m from West Belfast. I grew up on the Falls Road with my brothers and sisters. My Mum was the best person absolutely ever….
My name is Jim Newman, 76 years of age, born in Dublin, lived most of my life here in Sligo. I’m married to a French lady, Josette. We have two children….
Carmel and I was married for 43 years. I took her out for the first time on St Patrick’s Day 1977. I proposed to her in May 1977 and we got married on Boxing Day 1977….
John's Story
In September 2005, my late father, Michael Mitchell, was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of prostate cancer. He commenced intensive radiotherapy treatment in October 2005, which continued for approximately three months……
Bernadette’s Story
As I stood in my living room staring out the window, the dark, dismal, rainy morning reflected every bit of what I was feeling inside. Outside the world continued on, people going to work, children going to school, the postman delivering letters….
Robert's Story
When Robert Ferguson’s wife Olive was diagnosed with dementia, he became her full-time carer. It was a role he took on willingly and proudly. Because Robert had been devoted to Olive since the day they first met, over 60 years ago…..
