Home News Latest News Overwhelming generosity sends Petra to Germany

Overwhelming generosity sends Petra to Germany

Thursday, 26 November 2009

VITAL surgery for a young Southside woman with a debilitating and potentially life threatening condition has now become a reality following an avalanche of generous donations from the public. In September Southside People highlighted the plight of Petra Madill (25) from Ballyogan who suffers from a disease called Neurofibromatosis type II, which causes the development of tumours mainly on the brain, face, eyes and ears and can cause paralysis. If left untreated the disease in some cases can prove fatal. Petra, who lives with her parents Peter and Geraldine in Ballyogan, has had to undergo surgery on numerous occasions since the disease first manifested itself when she was just 11 years of age. In recent years she has been treated at Beaumont Hospital and in late 2008 medical staff there decided that she would require treatment on a particular tumour that posed a significant threat to her health. They recommended a relatively new treatment known as Cyberknife radio surgery, which is only available at a private clinic in Munich in southern Germany. In March, Petra received a letter from the clinic in Munich telling her that they felt they could treat her with Cyberknife. But in April the clinic contacted her again to say that they could not treat her under the HSE run E112 scheme, which entitles EU citizens to certain free treatments outside their home country. As a result, Petra's parents told Southside People in August that they had no choice but to attempt to raise the e20,000 required to fund the surgery through charitable means. Petra's dad Peter has now said all fundraising efforts have come to an end as members of the public and companies donated the $20,000 needed to fund the operation in the two months since the initial article about his daughter's case first appeared in Southside People. “We have had to stop all fundraising efforts at this stage and we have sent the money over to Germany,” Peter revealed. “Petra is getting a scan in Beaumont and hopefully we will have a confirmed date for the operation within the next week. “There were still donations coming in but we had to close the account. We received personal and corporate donations and one company in England donated e2,500.” Peter said Petra was very grateful to the people who had donated to her fund and was overwhelmed by the huge generosity shown by the general public during a time of economic hardship. “Now that she knows the money is there and she is going over her spirits are up,” he said. “She is very tired because she was involved in the fundraising herself. “But she is eternally grateful to people. She just can't believe that in a recession there are so many people willing to part with the few quid that they have. It is such a relief to know that she is getting the surgery.”