LITTLE Lachlan only had twelve weeks to live but he filled the hearts of his parents and everyone who got to know him with lovely memories.

“He was a fighter,” Lachlan's dad Lyndon Jones remembers. His wife Michelle had the baby boy on November 21, last year. He was born with an extremely rare diagnosis, and immediately brought to Holles Street Hospital in Dublin first, and then Temple Street Hospital.

In fact, Lachlan's condition was so rare, that the doctors thought Lachlan was the only baby in Ireland with the condition. A one in ten million situation.

It was very tough for the parents. Lyndon and his wife Michelle were splitting up time in hospital, so that one of them was always with little Lachlan.

One Friday in February, Lyndon was staying with their boy, with Michelle back in Westport, when the doctors diagnosed that Lachlan might die within the next few hours. So Lyndon called his wife and she drove straight up to Dublin. The hospital even called the Gardaí and they escorted Michelle to the hospital.

“Lachlan hung on for his mum,” Lyndon says. “And then he managed to survive all the way through the weekend. He met both sets of grandparents. Michelle's got five other siblings. He met them. He met my brother. So he met all his close family over that weekend.”
Lachlan was transferred to a suite called the Butterfly Suite. It's a palliative care suite. The staff had arranged for photographs to be taken with Lachlan. They'd arranged for little hand and foot prints and loads of little bits and pieces like this.
“We had a lovely day with them. And then on the Monday, February 10, he died.”

Lyndon admits, the time in the Butterfly Suite was horrible and lovely alike, as they got to spend Lachlan's final hours in a wonderful environment in the beautiful care of the professional staff at the hospital.

Grateful

AFTER Lachlan's journey, his father Lyndon is going on a special walk, in memory of the little fighter. Lyndon and Michelle are so grateful for the help and support they received, from the Temple Street Hospital and Hugh's House, a facility that gives parents a space to stay over as long as their child is in hospital.

They would also like to thank the Children's Health Foundation, which is the charity connected to all the different children's hospitals.

To give something back to these charitable organisations, Lyndon and his brother-in-law Cathal Tomas will walk from Westport to Dublin: “We're calling it Lachlan's Journey and it's essentially following Lachlan's journey in life. So we're going from our house, into Mayo General Hospital and then along the N5, through Longford, from there up to Dublin. That's kind of the journey.”

And it will start this Sunday, September 7. It's a 270km walk in total. He's taking on this walk to raise funds for both the Children's Health Foundation and Hugh's House, with the aim that other families can avail of the same care and support as they did. Lyndon wrote on the idonate.ie website: “Every step is for Lachlan.”

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Anyone who wants to contribute, can do so online until September 22.
Go to www.idonate.ie/fundraiser/LachlansJourney.

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