‘We’re Here to Share How Lucky We Are’ – Dad’s marathon effort to raise funds for newborn facilities
A man whose daughter’s life was saved by a team of midwives goes on a marathon campaign to help build special hospital rooms for the parents of stillborn and premature babies.
Auren McCarthy was born nine weeks premature and weighed just 3 pounds after a midwife discovered an abnormal heart rate during an appointment for her mother Aoife, 33.
The baby spent six weeks slowly building strength in the neonatal unit at Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH).
Her father CJ McCarthy, 37, from Castlelyons in Co Cork, is now training for April’s Paris marathon to raise funds for a sanctuary for newborns and a room for parents to support other families at the hospital.
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Little Lauren McCarthy with mum Aoife, dad CJ and sister Zara was born nine weeks premature weighing just 3lbs after a midwife discovered an abnormal heart rate. Her father, CJ, runs the Paris marathon to raise funds for special rooms for the parents of stillborn and preterm babies at CUMH. His fundraising campaign for CUH Charity can be supported at: www.idonate.ie/fundraiser/CJMcCarthy
Cork University Hospital Charity is raising funds for the new facilities, which are estimated to cost one million euros.
“We’re here to share how lucky we are,” McCarthy said.
“There were times we wondered if Lauren would ever come out of the neonatal unit. In those moments you are afraid of what is to come.”
Ms. McCarthy, a radiographer, visited CUMH for an anti-D injection at 31 weeks pregnant in January 2021 when the problem with Lauren’s heart rate was identified.
Two days later, after a scan, the couple was told they needed an emergency c-section.
“She (Lauren) came out at 3 pounds. I had to go to the neonatal unit and she was put in an incubator,” McCarthy recalled.
“It was as big as my hand.
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Little Lauren McCarthy was born nine weeks premature weighing just 3 pounds after a midwife discovered an abnormal heart rate. Her father, CJ, runs the Paris marathon to raise funds for special rooms for the parents of stillborn and preterm babies at CUMH. His fundraising campaign for CUH Charity can be supported at: www.idonate.ie/fundraiser/CJMcCarthy
“These were challenging times as there was often one step forward and two steps back in their progress.
“But we were among the lucky ones. Some babies were very ill, some parents had to travel miles a day, we were just down the road in Castlelyons and had great support from our family.”
The new newborn sanctuary will be a structure within the CUMH Garden where parents can place a baby in palliative care or enter a critically ill mother.
The parent’s room will be a private area, separate from the unit but close by, and a place where parents can take time out from the clinical environment on busy days.
Both projects will help parents of stillborn, premature or life-limited babies in the neonatal unit, which is one of the busiest in Ireland.
“It will give parents an opportunity to sit down and talk to others who are going through the same thing,” McCarthy said.
“At a time when they think the whole world is against them, they can walk into a room, make a coffee and chat with others in the same boat.”
Lauren turns two on January 15 and the couple also have a daughter, Zara, who is four years old.
Mr. McCarthy, who works for McCarthy Insurance Group, has run seven marathons, all under four hours.
For more information on his fundraising efforts or how to donate, visit www.idonate.ie/fundraiser/CJMcCarthy.
https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/health/were-here-to-tell-the-tale-of-how-lucky-we-are-fathers-marathon-effort-to-raise-funds-for-neo-natal-facilities-42270352.html ‘We’re Here to Share How Lucky We Are’ – Dad’s marathon effort to raise funds for newborn facilities