MARY and Tony Heffernan celebrated the 16th birthday of their beloved daughter Saoirse, who passed away at the age of five in 2011, by launching a new critical care ambulance for children who need it most.
On what would have been Saoirse’s special day, the Heffernans, from Keel, unveiled the 2011 KY registered 16th vehicle for their charity, BUMBLEance and the special vehicle is entering service to support children who require critical care services and specialist support from across the country.
Charity patron Miriam O’Callaghan, Children’s Health Ireland CEO Elish Hardiman and Dr Dermot Doherty, Lead of the Critical Care Retrieval Service, with Tony and Mary at the CHI Children’s Urgent Care Centre at Connolly Hospital in Dublin and the charity set up in Saoirse’s memory has plans to further develop its regional based services.
“Celebrating your child’s 16th birthday or any other significant milestone for parents is usually a happy and joyful time. When your child has passed on at an early age, then such milestones are more poignant, heartfelt and exceptionally difficult,” said Tony.
The 16th BUMBLEance vehicle, which will operate across the entire country, will be used to transport exceptionally sick children who have life-threatening illness and injuries to the major trauma and treatment centres.
In a statement, Tony and Mary Heffernan remarked: “It’s an absolute honour to remember Saoirse in this special way”.
They added: “Saoirse’s memory is a driving force that helps us to continue to work with the dedicated teams across Ireland who proactively care for and support sick children in the most tangible way.
“We hope that many families will benefit from this new vehicle and also via the existing fleet of BUMBLEance’s stationed around the country”.
BUMBLEance is part of The Saoirse Foundation, a charity that was founded by the Heffernans in 2010 after Saoirse, was diagnosed with the rare and fatal neurological condition Batten Disease.
Tragically, the Heffernan’s son Liam was also diagnosed with the condition and he passed away, also at the age of five, in 2014.
There have been over 14,000 trips undertaken nationwide since BUMBLEance’s inception in 2013 and there are hundreds of families availing of the charity’s free services.
