Edenderry rallies behind family of baby with leukemia
By Rebekah O'Reilly
The Edenderry community has showed its immense support for the Madigan family, after their six-month-old son, Ricardo, was diagnosed with leukemia on December 23.
Baby Ricardo is receiving treatment in St John's Oncology Ward in Crumlin, after his diagnosis with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia.
His parents, Ciarán and Yolanda Madigan, have been supported by the love and prayers of their community as their youngest child faces into a long journey of treatment including chemotherapy and immunotherapy.
Yolanda is well known as a dance teacher, and runs a dance school Retox Dance - a passion which has led her to play a very active role in the Edenderry community.
In a post on social media, she said: “There are no words to thank all the love and affection towards Ricardo and our family, I'm not going to lie I can feel a tremendous energy surrounding us and I know that God and the Virgin of Guadalupe do not let go of our hands," said Yolanda.
“Nobody is ready for this kind of news but there was something inside me telling me we have a big mission in this life.
“With this news I keep getting messages saying and reminding me that I am a strong, and determined. Thank you for reminding me in these moments who I am, I feel that for a second I had forgotten, but I am more than ready to be a strong and present mom and wife.
“I thank God and that Ricardo has chosen us as his family because we are ready for the battle, to show everyone that whatever comes with the hand of God we will go ahead.
“I know there will be dark days, moments of despair, fatigue and where you maybe feel like you want to run out, because at the end of the day we are human and we are selfish, but I know that I have an immense support network.”
A friend of the Madigan family, Orla Butler, set up a GoFundMe page in order to show support to the family in their time of need, and the page has garnered a huge response.
Having passed the original target of €13,000, the target was moved to €16,000, with the community donating a total of €14,448 from some 671 donations as of January 21.
Writing in the fundraiser page, Orla said: "Any donations fundraised will go directly to supporting Ricardo and ensuring he will be as comfortable as possible during his treatment, including most importantly having Yolanda and Ciarán by his side every day.
“Any remaining funds will go directly to St John’s Oncology ward in Crumlin who have been a great source of support to Ricardo, Ciarán and Yolanda.
"Ricardo is a happy strong baby and we are sure with your love and support he will win this battle."