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Cian O’Daly and Henry

 

For the attention of Health Minister Leo Vardaker.

Dear Minister Varadkar

My son, Henry Bolger O’Daly, was diagnosed pre-natally 5 years ago as having Hypo-Plastic Left Heart Syndrome. He was born with the entire left-hand side of his heart missing. He has endured a series of arduous and painful surgeries in order to make his remaining right-hand side of his heart viable until such time that he is a suitable candidate for full heart transplantation. This will happen when he is older, please God. His is an alternative circulatory system, resulting in diminished blood oxygen levels. As a result, he gets very tired and sometimes ill from pedestrian levels of activity. Obviously, his condition is a life-long, incurable and chronic congenital heart defect. In lesser words, my son will never get better.

We applied to retain Henry’s medical card and just this morning we found out that it has been REFUSED. I fail to see how he could not be granted a discretionary medical card, given the fact that his monthly medication expenses are exorbitant. We obtained a letter from his cardiologist, Dr. Orla Franklin (Crumlin), to support his medical card application. The content of this letter sets out in no uncertain terms the gravity of Henry’s condition and is explicit and detailed. This alone should set alarm bells ringing in the Health Service that this citizen, my son, Henry Bolger O’Daly absolutely should be granted a medical card.

In the short time that he has been alive, Henry has experienced a great deal of trauma which is now manifesting itself in his everyday life. He is a very anxious child and is currently attending a play therapist, the cost of which is not covered by the medical card. We cannot afford to pay the monthly DPS charge and pay for therapy.

Can you please give me a call? I am desperately seeking your guidance in the matter.

Regards
Cian O’Daly

Cian O’Daly (Facebook)

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21 thoughts on “Dear Leo

      1. cluster

        I presume you both are satisfied to pay Property tax, water charges, higher income tax etc. to pay for such services.

        Personally I am but it’d be pretty silly to be moaning about taxation AND cuts to public services.

        Before you mention the bailout, it is about 2.3% of our annual govt expenditure and our deficit is a good bit more than 2.3%

        1. Paolo

          Yep, this is what our taxes are supposed to pay for. If the story is true then it’s a disgrace and I hope that it is rectified.

          You cannot have a public health service without taxes and when people don’t pay their fair share (rich people and working people) then services get cut.

        2. realPolithicks

          I am not a resident of Ireland, but if I was this is the very thing I would want my taxes to pay for and yes I would pay higher taxes for it.

          1. realPolithicks

            I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that your not as big a dickh**d as you seem.

  1. ZeligIsJaded

    You’d like to think that it’s incompetent administration – ‘the computer says no’ kinda stuff – rather than a human deciding that this makes sense.

    No fupping excuse either way, but hope to fupp it’s rectified. It’s a disgrace

  2. Joxer

    wonder if its a case of the dept refusing the cards and then seeing who will appeal it.

    last nights news had a report that Doctors could reinstate MC’s ? or did i dream that?

    1. scottser

      you’re right joxer. the hse frontline are basically told ‘this is the public purse, there’s the public over there. here’s your stick, now keep them the public away from the purse’.

  3. Bobojoc

    Took us 8 months of jumping through hoops to have my mother-in-laws full medical returned after it was withdrawn without explanation. I should point out that she resides in a nursing home, is too old to have any treatment for her cancer and suffers full blown alzheimers. Best little country in the world to grow old me arse Enda.

  4. Anonanoanom

    This would an administration error, they just look and see your over the limit of entitlement foe the card and refuse it. They don’t take the actually facts in to account. Like the extra cost for play therapy his father pointed out.

  5. Clampers Outside!

    My niece is six and has multiple disabilities, too many to name, and some even the doctors don’t know what to call some of her issues. She only recently started walking, a few feet, assisted only by holding her arm… which was deadly :)

    Anyway, her mum and dad, my brother and his wife went through similar circumstances in having to fight to get her card back.
    How they got it back… according to my sister in law…. a lorry load of stress, constant calls, emails, calling to the office and overall persistence and pestering… and lots of photos of my niece in situations that show she’s not capable and requires 24hr care. I was told the photos are a good thing to include even when not asked for.

    Good luck ! Lovely wee man

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