A wonderful cause.

Tania Fitzgerald, a mother from Youghal in Cork, is appealing for help from the public in securing vital medical equipment for her daughter Breanna.

According to a GoFundMe page established by Tania, “Breanna was born at 24 weeks 2 days and she had to fight from the day she was born. She has a chronic lung disease and pulmonary hypertension. She had stage 3 eye disease needing injections in both eyes.” In the following weeks, the child went on to develop sepsis and pneumonia.

In total, Breanna spent eight months in hospital before coming home with her family.

“My little girl is such a fighter and she needs help now to fight for what she needs to continue her improving development. Right now she needs a walking aide as she is trying to walk but can’t as she doesn’t have the core strength to do it,” reads the page description.

“Currently we are holding her up all the time as she hates sitting and lying down for long periods of time especially as she wants to stay standing and try to walk.

“A walker will strengthen her chest area and abdomen muscles and also gives her independence as well so she can move about with us without being carried all the time. It also means she can play with her sisters and brothers which [is] also important for her social and cognitive development.

“The walker was recommended by a specialist physio but was turned down by HSE because they prefer the money go towards a wheelchair in 2 years rather than a walker now to push her developing walking skills. Hopefully she can avoid needing the wheelchair by getting the skills to walk.”

The page has taken in over €3,000 of donations in just a day, just over halfway to its goal of €6,000. You can find the page here.