A young Kerry family have had their world turned upside down after their three-year-old daughter received a devastating Leukemia diagnosis. Hannah Murphy, aged 3, is the daughter of Craig Murphy from Cork and Tracey Murphy from Tralee, with the family currently residing in Co Kerry . Coming as a ‘great shock’ to the family, the Kerry tot was recently diagnosed with Leukemia, prompting friends of the young family to come together to ‘support them during this unimaginably difficult time’.
Taking to GoFundMe, friends of the Murphy family have created a crowdfunding page to raise vital funds as Hannah faces down a ‘difficult’ road. They wrote: ‘We are reaching out to you on behalf of our dear friends Craig, Tracey, and their beautiful 3-year-old daughter, Hannah. Recently, their world was turned upside down when Hannah was unexpectedly diagnosed with Leukemia.
As friends, we are coming together to support them during this unimaginably difficult time, and we need your help! ‘Hannah is a bright, joyful little girl who has brought so much love and light into the lives of everyone who knows her. ‘Her diagnosis came as a complete shock, and now she will need to endure a difficult road ahead. Hannah will need to travel from their home in Kerry to Dublin once a week for the foreseeable future to receive life-saving treatment.
’ Currently, parents Craig and Tracey are doing ‘everything they can’ to support their cherished daughter through her illness, but it is understood that weekly trips to Dublin for life-saving treatment, time off work and mounting medical expenses are taking an immense toll on the young family. ‘As they focus on caring for their daughter, we want to ease some of their burdens by helping to cover travel expenses, lost income, and any additional costs that arise as they navigate this new reality,’ family friends explained. The young family were ‘truly overwhelmed’ when, just 48 hours after launching the fundraiser, it had exceeded the €20,000 goal.
Dad Craig posted on the crowdfunding site, ‘On behalf of my family, I would like to express my sincerest thanks and gratitude for everyone’s support, kind words, and extremely generous donations that you have provided to us during this difficult time. We are truly overwhelmed. Words cannot express how grateful and humbled we are.
’ He also paid tribute to his friends and to the abundance of healthcare staff who have been looking after Hannah since her heartbreaking diagnosis. ‘Hannah’s diagnosis came as a great shock to us. However, the staff at Crumlin, Tralee General Hospital, along with our family and friends, have made this difficult road somewhat easier.
‘I am very lucky to have such an amazing group of friends. In a time of need, they rallied together and set this GoFundMe up on our behalf. Our families have been a constant day-to-day support, and we are equally grateful to have them in our lives also.
‘Hannah is the most amazing little girl. She is our world, and as you can imagine, it is difficult to see the effects that this illness has had on her. But Hannah is tough, strong, independent and, above all, a fighter.
She will come out of this on the right side and will beat this illness. We’ll be with her every step of the way, and we look forward to better days ahead. Thank you all once again.
’ In less than a week since the creation of the young family’s GoFundMe page, over €30,000 has been raised for the Murphy family as they deal with the sudden diagnosis. To find out more about Hannah’s fight or to donate, check out her GoFundMe appeal here ..
