How the Jack & Jill Foundation helps parents climb a steep hill
On the 29th 1996 Jack Irwin was born – a bonny bouncy baby. Two days later he suffered some invasive trauma in the hospital’s nursery. From that moment on, Jack’s brain was damaged. He could not swallow and was probably both blind and deaf. His parent’s dreams were in the bin and the heartbreaking task of keeping Jack alive and warm began.
Asked for guidance on caring for Jack once he left their intensive care unit, the senior paediatrician in the hospital was brutal in his honesty. He made it clear that there were simply no services in Ireland available to a baby like Jack. Indeed he cautioned that inadvertently Jack’s needs would threaten the marriage and certainly damage the childhood of his healthy brothers and sister.
Jack lived for 22 months – a fairly desperate life. A mix of drugs, physio, postural drainage, seizures, reflux operations, gastrostomy and suctioning. The only saving grace was that he was cosy and warm and nursed by a dedicated band of carers and a nurse from Jack’s neighbourhood.
His short life showed his parents the ideal way in which little children like Jack can be nursed and from their experience evolved the early intervention home respite care that has now been offered to over 900 children and their families all over Ireland since 1997.
The Foundation is young and fully realises it cannot provide for every need. However its ethos is to listen to its families and to have its services serve its community to the very best of its abilities.
The Foundation provides early intervention home respite to families with children up to the age of 4, with severe developmental delay who require extended care.
The Jack & Jill Foundation would like to help support families cope with the situation they find themselves in with their new baby or older child, and to promote the best quality of life for all concerned. We would like to help by:
- Home visits by our Liaison Officer/Nurse. The nursing team is available Monday to Friday and covers all of Southern Ireland.
- Offering advice on caring for a child at home and how to access services.
- Listening to what the parents/carer want for their child, and making representations on their behalf.
- Financing home-care charges borne by them.
- Over 2 million is required in donations every year to maintain the services provided.
The Jack & Jill Children’s
Foundation, Johnstown Manor,
Johnstown, Naas, Co. Kildare
Tel: 045 894538
Fax: 045 894558
e-mail: jackandjill@eircom.net
Website: www.jackandjill.ie
Jonathan Irwin, Founder and
C.E.O. 087 2558451
