A family are looking to raise €60,000 to help their daughter fulfil her “dream” of walking. 

Dan McDermott’s daughter, Eve, was born a “bundle of joy” three and a half years old. However, at just nine weeks, she was hospitalised with meningitis. 

It was, Mr McDermott told Lunchtime Live, a “very, very scary and stressful time” for the family and they spent several days in ICU with her, which he describes as “quite frankly, just hell on earth”. 

 “On the Thursday that week, we heard the terrible news that Eve had a brain injury as a result of the meningitis infection,” he recalled. 

“And that represents itself today in Eve as cerebral palsy, which is a neurological condition that affects your ability to control your muscles and your mobility.

“And she also has a secondary diagnosis of epilepsy.”

 

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Despite this, Mr McDermott describes Eve as a “bright, fun, very, very, very kind and lovely kid to be around”. 

To help with her mobility issues, the family flew to Tbisili in Georgia in 2024 for stem cell therapy, returning afterwards to Ireland for 16 weeks of physio. 

“The difference is night and day,” Mr McDermott said. 

“We've gone from a kid who couldn't support herself in a seated position to a child now who is able to stand on her own for periods of time to go from like a seated position up to a kneeling position,” he said. 

“She's much more mobile; she's on the very beginning of her journey now to be walking - she's using a walker.” 

Eve McDermott. Image: Supplied.

Mr McDermott added that Eve’s therapist could “see the difference” after a single session. 

But the treatment in Georgia did not come cheap; it cost the family nearly €30,000 and the follow up physio in Ireland cost roughly the same again. 

Eve is booked in for another round of stem cell treatment and the McDermott family are fundraising to pay for it. 

“We're really hoping we can ask our community, our neighbors, our wider countrymen and women of Ireland to help us deliver at the cost of stem cell treatment,” Mr McDermott said. 

“That the deadline is fast approaching, we need to have that have that boxed away by the beginning of February.” 

McDermott continued that paying for Eve’s medical treatment is “incredibly challenging” and that once she returns to Ireland she will need more costly physio as well. 

“We're hoping that we can be sharing news in August or September of this year of Eve walking, standing on her own,” he said. 

“And really beginning that adventure of exploring the world like every child should be able to do.”

People looking to donate can do so here.

Main image: Eve McDermott. Image: Supplied.