Thursday, 19 June 2014

If at first you don't succeed.....


There has been so much going on recently that I have neglected this blog a bit... Ok, ok a lot! 

We have been so busy in fact, that we are now one sixth of the way to our target of €60,000.... Can you believe we have raised €10,000 already? 

So here's a run down on how things went..... And what's to come :)

On the 17th of May, Gillian Sauvage and Re:Publik Music kindly offered their "Fish Go Deep" event as a fundraiser for Dylan! 600 people attended (full capacity of nightclub!) raising a jaw dropping €4000 for Dylan! An absolute phenomenal amount, thank you to everyone who came and of course to Gillian and Re:Publik Music!

22nd of May brought us to Norris's bar for a quiz night. 11 tables full of knowledge had a great night at a quiz made very enjoyable by our fantastic quizmaster Dermot Molloy!! The raffle was sponsored by some very generous local businesses who deserve a special thank you, Personal Touch, JC Originals, Dunphy's butchers, Aurelia Foods and Norris's bar for raffle prizes and also the venue.

On a sweltering June bank holiday Monday, Cormac McCarthy and John Burke took to the streets of Cork to run their first (and last!) marathon to raise funds for Dylan. A huge thank you to the lads for raising a total of €735! 

From 6th - 8th of June the first annual Waterford City Tattoo Convention was unveiled and what a spectacular weekend it was! Tattoo artists came from UK, USA, Spain and even from places as exotic as Edenderry! The co-ordinators of the convention kindly hosted a sponsored shave to raise funds for Dylan! Four kind hearted men took to the stage to de-fur themselves of their flowing locks. Even dreads that had been on the grow for SEVEN years were shed for Dylan! 

We would also like to take the time here to acknowledge a fifth man who took to the stage for his "Final Shave"! Paddy Flavin will return to the 2015 convention after participating in a sponsored grow for a year to raise funds for Pieta House! Well done to Paddy!

It didn't take Dylan too long to get used to his Daddy after the shave....

Dylan even got a keep sake from Ger Brady of Studio 13, Edenderry. Ger was an absolute gentleman. Someone informed Ger that Dylan was admiring one of his ornaments and Ger selflessly went out of his way to look for Dylan to give him the piece to take home, thank you Ger, you made Dylan's day!


Another gentleman who needs a mention and a thank you is Peter from Pinz and Needles in Cork. Mammy wanted a tattoo that incorporated the cerebral palsy awareness ribbon and Peter kindly offered to do it free of charge.

If you are ever in Cork or Offaly and you're looking for a tattoo, these men deserve your business!! 

All in all it was a fantastic weekend with a bonus of over €2200 raised for Dylan!
A massive thank you to everyone involved in making the convention such a fun weekend with so many lovely people!
We are looking forward to the second annual Waterford City Tattoo Convention! 

If all that is not enough, get ready for what's coming up.......

Another head of SEVEN year old dreads are being shed (I'm a poet and I didn't even know it!) for Dylan :) Dylan's cousin Gary Cunningham will be letting go of his signature ginger dreads to raise funds for Dylan, a date will be confirmed soon so keep an eye on the website. If you would like to sponsor Gary you can do so at www.operationdylan.jimdo.com/gary-sheds-his-dreads

On Saturday 28th June Trevor Reilly and Emily Murphy will take to the streets of Waterford to run the Viking Marathon for Dylan! 
Trevor and Emily can both be sponsored at www.operationdylan.jimdo.com/waterford-viking-marathon 

On Saturday 5th of July get yourselves to Kilcohan race track for a fun night all in aid of Operation Dylan and Pieta House!
Tickets are only €10 for adults and €20 for a family ticket (2 adults and 2 kids)
We will post info on how to get tickets soon so keep an eye out!

Also in the planning is a picnic in the New Streets Gardens (which are amazing), Cork women's mini marathon, Hell and Back marathon, a gig or two, a mind blowing bake sale, I'm sure there's something I'm forgetting!

Please forgive me for neglecting the blog but as you can see we have been crazy busy, but we're not stopping until we get to St. Louis...



Dylan's prognosis since he was about 11 months old is that he will be a permanent wheelchair user... I didnt like that prognosis very much so I decided I needed to find something that will change it and so I found Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy Surgery, Dylan wasn't strong enough for this surgery last year and was turned down for it.

However, if at first you don't succeed... Try..... Until you do!! :)









 








Wednesday, 7 May 2014

Dodgeball Tournament 3rd May

The Dodgeball Tournament on the 3rd May was organised by the Waterford Dodgeball Club and was a great success.  Thank you to the Waterford Dodgeball Club for organising the event, to the Kilmacow Community Centre for the use of the hall and to everyone that came and made it such a success.  With the help of everyone we raised a massive €500.

Well done to the winning team Oozma Kappa and to the Hammer Hands coming 2nd and also not forgetting David Delaney who won Last Man Standing!








Wednesday, 12 March 2014

Busy little bees are we.....

There's so much being organized for Dylan and so many people wanting to help Dylan that I am overwhelmed at the moment. In the middle of appointments, fundraising and work we are also getting everything organized to travel to Scotland for two weeks to visit a trainer called Mike Poole. Mike Poole has a close relationship with the team in St.Louis so we are really looking forward to working with him, he has worked with many kids pre op, post op, no op.... You name it! It's a tough course at 2 hours a day for 2 weeks, I just hope that Dylan will tolerate it and work with Mike. Dylan has been sick on and off since Christmas but appears to be on the mend now for good, so fingers crossed we'll have many updates of a lot of hard work in Scotland! :)

Saturday, 8 February 2014

SDR Journey Day 1! (Again)

So...... 10 months ago I sent all paperwork and video's off to Dr. T.S. Park for him to assess Dylan for Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy  A.K.A. the miracle surgery!  It was heartbreaking to read that he was not eligible at the time and they told me to reapply in one year.  I stopped fundraising at that point not thinking that Dylan would progress even half as much as he has over the last 10 months.  To my surprise he is a different child to the child he was 10 months ago, he can now kneel, crawl and pull himself to stand using a physio ladder. I've started fundraising again as Dylan's progress and strength shows no bounds.