Kildare woman goes to Mexico for €50k life-saving op
A Kildare-born woman has undergone a life-saving operation in Mexico that cost almost €50,000.
Clare Mullarkey (29), who has multiple sclerosis (MS), flew from her UK home for the stem cell transplant 5,500 miles away.
Ms Mullarkey is a paediatric nurse who cares for sick children at Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
She hopes the stem cell transplantation, or HSCT, in Mexico will stop her MS from worsening.
The intensive chemotherapy treatment wipes out and rebuilds a patient's immune system using their own stem cells in an effort to stop the damage caused by MS.
Without the procedure, Ms Mullarkey said, she would likely be in a wheelchair before she turns 30.
Ms Mullarkey, who was born in Co Kildare but moved to the UK to study nursing.
She was diagnosed with MS in 2011, when she was just 22, after her vision became blurry.
An eye test found nothing wrong with her eyes, so she was referred for an MRI scan and lumbar puncture.
Doctors then discovered that she had multiple sclerosis, a lifelong autoimmune condition which attacks the central nervous system and can affect the brain and/or spinal cord.
Her condition has steadily got worse over the years and it has affected her work, where she stays on the ward because she is unable to escort patients around the hospital.
She said: “I rely a lot on taxis now because walking to the bus stop is too far, and it often makes me avoid going out at all.
“I worry that if it continues like this, I will have to give up my job, which I love. It’s really not much of a future.”
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a lifelong auto immune condition which can affect the brain and/or spinal cord.
It can cause a wide range of symptoms, including problems with vision, arm or leg movement, sensation or balance, the NHS says.
MS can sometimes cause serious disability, although it can be occasionally mild.
Symptoms can be treated in many cases, although average life expectancy is slightly reduced for those with MS.
MS causes the immune system to mistakenly attack the myelin sheath, the layer that surrounds and protects the nerves.
Ms Mullarkey has completed her first stage of the treatment in Mexico after travelling to Puebla in February, and must now spend two weeks on an isolation ward.
We wish her the best of luck with her fundraising and treatment.