Dundalk CBS Primary School classmates rally for Zoe

Pupils at the CBS Primary School in Dundalk went green last week to raise funds to help their school pal six-year-old Zoe Murphy.

The pupils marked World Cerebral Palsy Day last Thursday 6 October, by organising the fundraising initiative for Zoe, a senior infants pupil at the school who was born with spastic diplegic Cerebral Palsy. Zoe's family are appealing for people to help them raise the money needed to get an operation for her that will help her to walk unaided and support her independence.
And Zoe's school friends answered that call raising €2,000 from their fundraising event.

CBS Primary School Principal, Eileen Hart, told the Dundalk Democrat that to mark Cerebral Palsy Day, the school decided to “help Zoe rather than fundraise for a specific charity.” Principal Hart said “we had a fundraising initiative for her by encouraging all the pupils to wear green and pledge a donation to her fundraising effort either through the school or through her gofundme page.”

Cerebral palsy is a permanent disability that affects movement. Its impact can range from a weakness in one hand to almost a complete lack of voluntary movement. It is a lifelong disability for which there is no known cure. Zoe's family had been told she would never walk, talk or sit unaided. However, following Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy surgery in St. Louis children's hospital in Missouri, in the United States, Zoe's body has been released of most of the spasticity that was restricting her life.

Since the surgery, Zoe has defied all the odds set against her and now attends CBS Primary School, and her parent's say she is determined to live an independent life. Unfortunately however, Zoe had hip dysplasia as a baby and as she has grown over the years, her cerebral palsy has caused bone deformities to her hips, knees and feet. Her parents say that over the space of a year, they have seen her walking pattern deteriorate.

Following consultation with her neurosurgeon and orthopaedic surgery in St Louis, it was established that Zoe has what is known as severe antiversion femoral, and needs surgery to correct this. Her parents say she also needs what is called bilateral gastrocnemius recessions surgery, which will lengthen her tendons and muscles in her calf area.
Her team in America have agreed to do both these surgeries together, her parents say, which means just one anesthetic and one recovery, making things a little easier on Zoe.

The family have set up a GoFundMe appeal to help raise the €35,000 needed to pay for the required surgery. You can contribute to the appeal by visiting https://www.gofundme.com/f/zoe-murphy-appeal. CBS Primary School raised a total of €2,000 to go towards the appeal for Zoe. On the school's Facebook page they said: “A huge thank you for your generosity; we will add this donation to Zoe's Go Fund me page. CBS is truly a fantastic community, thank you for your continued support.”