A young boy with autism who was delighted when his service dog won the national Nose of Tralee award is now battling an aggressive cancer in hospital.
Daragh McNally (11) from Dundalk, Co. Louth is currently in Our Lady’s Hospital, Crumlin fighting lymphoma, which was only diagnosed last week, a short while after his family returned from holidays.
A GoFundMe page for his treatment and family’s expenses has now been set up by close family friend Sheila Murphy and has raised over €12,000 in a day.
“I first met Daragh in 2014 when I carried out home-based July provision through the Department of Education with him over the summer holidays,” she said.
“Daragh, who is a student of Realt na Mara in Dundalk, is now undergoing treatment in intensive care in hospital, surrounded by his parents Colleen and Paul and three siblings.
“He’s such a lovely lad and I couldn’t sleep thinking about what I could do so, with the parents' approval, I set up this GoFundme page to help with treatment and expenses, as the family can’t understandably work at this time to be there for their son.”
Daragh’s dog Lenny won the Nose of Tralee award in 2017 after mum Colleen revealed how much the service dog had helped her son deal with behavioural issues and get him outside on a daily basis.
Anyone who would like to help Daragh can do so at https://www.gofundme.com/f/funds-for-little-daragh
