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Cillian Condon showing off the vinyl wall art.

Cillian Condon shows off the vinyl wall art in the children's oncology room.

From left, Mary Claire Rennick, Odun Ola Oluwabiyi, Vicky Kehoe, Jenny Power, Ahmed Shabbabir, Cillian Condon his mum Sinead Wood, Dr Muammad Azam, Deirdre O'Connor, Mary O'Kane, Annette Kelly, Sandra Lett and Johanna Breen.

The children’s oncology room at St Gabriel’s Paediatric Ward in Wexford General Hospital is out of this world thanks to an upgrade funded by the voluntary parent-led organisation Childhood Cancer Foundation Ireland.

T he inpatient room where young cancer sufferers are often in isolation due to being immune-supressed has been fitted with an electric bed, a wall-mounted blood pressure monitor, a ‘buddy’ day bed for parents, a television set and a play station while the walls have been wrapped from floor to ceiling in vinyl art on a colourful space theme.

Mary Clare Rennick, director of the Foundation visited the hospital recently to view the completed work and she received a glowing review from young Wexford boy Cillian Condon who has been a patient in the room.

Cillian who was accompanied by his mother Sinéad, was particularly taken with the vinyl art in the inpatient room and the treatment room where he contributed many of the jokes which adorn the walls.

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The room is for the use of young  patients who need to be hospitalised for cancer-related care and Childhood Cancer Foundation Ireland financed the upgrade to make life brighter and more comfortable for them.

The money for the improvements was raised locally by parents of child cancer sufferers, with one family in particular generously contributing a significant amount.

Ms Rennick said the Foundation tries to ensure that money raised locally is spent in the area and outside of Dublin, funding has been provided under ‘Shared Care’ projects for upgrades and equipment purchase in hospitals including Limerick, Waterford, Sligo and Drogheda.

The Foundation provides play services in St John’s Ward in Children’s Health Ireland at Crumlin and also funds the Beads of Courage Programme which provides emotional support for children with cancer who receive a bead to mark every stage of their cancer journey.

Childhood Cancer Foundation is a charity founded by and led by parents of children with cancer and has been operating since 2013. It also provides peer to peer support for children going through cancer or who have had cancer and also advocates for better supports and services for families, as well as better treatments and outcomes for children.

The stated mission of the Foundation is to achieve health justice for all children diagnosed with cancer in Ireland, to ensure that more children survive childhood cancer and thrive as adults through early diagnosis, access to less toxic treatments and a holistic approach to support survivors and their families, who are dealing with the long-term effects.

It aims to raise awareness of childhood cancer, to fund emotional supports and services for children with cancer of their families and to be the voice of children with cancer in Ireland

On average 328 children, adolescents and young adults, aged 0 to 24 years are diagnosed with cancer every year in Ireland. Treatments are harsh and can cause life-long side effects. It is estimated that there are over 6,000 adult survivors of childhood cancer living in Ireland and due to improved treatments, thata number is growing.

The most common types of childhood cancers include cancers of the blood (leukaemia and lymphoma), brain tumours and solid tumours, such as neuroblastoma and Wilms tumour.

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