"We're Focusing On The Positives" : Kildare Parent Of Child With Catastrophic Brain Injury

It apparently came after she developed a virus that attacked her brain.

Kildare parents Jonny and Deirdre Parkinson have remained strong and positive as a family after their daughter Clodagh was found to have a catastrophic brain surgery after her birth.

It was described by a neurologist as one of the worst brain injuries they had ever seen.

It came apparently after she developed a virus that attacked her brain.

Speaking on Kildare Today, father of Clodagh, Jonny Parkinson explained what it was like when they brought her home from the hospital at first:

"Things all went well to plan, the labour and delivery went well, and we were home just over a week, and we noticed that she was a bit lethargic and stopped feeding on mum a little bit.

"We tried formula and see if that would pick her up a bit, but the next few hours it didn't really happen and she remained in that state."

Jonny and Deirdre then made the decision to bring Clodagh to hospital, and on arrival, the situation quickly escalated whereby a team of doctors were worried about Clodagh's breathing and eventually brought her to ICU.

"Everyone was nearly being too nice to us, and I said it to Deirdre, 'there's something wrong here'."

What followed from various tests showed that she had a catastrophic brain injury following a seizure.

"Our whole world was turned upside down, we were devastated, our family came in to visit and they were basically saying hello and goodbye [to Clodagh]."

"She went in on a Friday and by the following Friday we turned off the ventilator and waited for her to pass, I'll be honest, that time in ICU waiting was torturous, and we didn't know what to expect, they were saying it could take a long time or happen quickly, we were just waiting."

The following Monday, there was much more positive news, as her oxygen levels returned to normal levels and Clodagh was in a much better place.

From there, the Parkinson's had to change their approach and prepare for Clodagh to return home again, albeit under different circumstances this time:

"We had to change our whole mindset again, knowing that she's staying with us, and we had to then prepare to see what her baseline condition was like and start to put groundwork in with the doctors, physio and speech and language therapists to prepare to go home."

As they adapted to their new lives with Clodagh, Jonny was glad to have assistance from the Jack and Jill Children's Foundation, who assisted Clodagh with various elements of her development, most notably with the paediatric nurses they provided.

"Myself and Deirdre have also tried to focus on the positives, we can't change what happened to Clodagh, she's 18 months old now, but developmentally she's six month old, she's making small progressions and we've just decided to focus on the positives.

"She smiles, she giggles, she laughs, she responds when we play with her, she's significantly disabled, but we've decided to focus on all the great things that Clodagh is."

A 100km run taking place throughout September by Jack and Jill Children's Foundation and supported by Life Pharmacy, is raising money for in-home nursing and respite care for families across Ireland.

To register or donate, visit lifepharmacy100.ie or jackandjill.ie

The full interview can be heard below: