A Cork mother has said US Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump’s willingness to “mock and insult” those vulnerable in society shows he has no understanding of people.
Gillian Duffy’s nine-year-old son, Josh, was born with a chronic condition that limits muscle and joint movement called anthrogryposis or AMC.
Trump has come under fire since he appeared to imitate a reporter at a rally in the US who also has the condition.
“This morning, I had so many notifications on Facebook, especially from people in the US,” Gillian says.
It wasn’t until she saw the clip that she realised how bad it was, saying, “this joke of a person doesn't have the courage, resourcefulness, and integrity that the people who have this condition display every day.”
Arthrogryposis/AMC describes a congenital non-progressive limitation of movement of two or more joints, effecting 3 in 10,000 births.
Gillian’s son has “classic” arthrogryposis, meaning he is affected in his limbs. “His contractures were so bad that at four weeks he had to have his lower legs amputated,” she told Newstalk.com.
“His feet were touching the swell of his back. The quality of his life wasn’t good at that point.”
Gillian, from Mitchelstown, hadn’t been aware of Josh’s condition before he was born and said it came as a shock.
“But,” she says, “everything happened so fast and once that [the shock] subsides and when you become a parent, you just want to make sure your child is OK.”
Josh, who turns 10 in two weeks, also has contractures in his arms so movement comes from his shoulders and a secondary diagnosis of autism, but he still attends a ‘mainstream’ school and "is having a great year so far".
"His full-time job is annoying his brothers," Gillian says as she describes how she sees him like any other child.
Josh enjoying Christmas last year. Image: Gillian Duffy
There's no cure but we work together as a unit
Even after Josh was born, his two older brothers, Edward, now 17 and William, 15 "just saw their baby brother". The Cork mum says “children take you as they see you. They are great with Josh, we work together as a unit.
“We accommodate his needs as much as possible but let him be as independent as possible too,” she adds.
Because Josh has additional needs - he can’t go to the toilet, eat and do other things on his own - he does need extra care.
Gillian receives five hours of home support once a week so she can take time away and do things with Edward and William, but she has also trained as a physical therapist over the last three years to help in looking after Josh.
“There is no 'cure' just a treatment of stretching, casting and surgeries to assist in helping someone be as independent as possible,” she says.
The brothers on Josh's communion day. Image: Gillian Duffy
Gillian says she would love to have more awareness for the condition but because it’s so rare, “it’s harder to get it out there”, admitting there plenty of other conditions that she, or anyone else, wouldn’t know about that need just as much awareness.
But, sounding relieved, she says Facebook is a great source for support as there are so many groups that have or know children with AMC. One such group is AMC Awareness Ireland.
International support
“When you are in that world, you don’t see it as rare because so many people have it around the world and you can speak to them and swap stories.”
Gillian says it’s a shame that Trump decided to attack someone’s disability rather than their profession, saying that it’s frightening to think he wants to hold office in America.
Looking on the bright side, however, Gillian hopes his attacks on minority groups will result in one thing, saying very matter-of-factly: “The only good thing from his insults is that he is ticking off all the groups that won’t vote for him.”
