Help Maurice experience a genuine break!

Hi, my name is Aoife and I am Maurice's partner and carer.

Maurice has been getting the short end of the stick health-wise ever since he was diagnosed with cancer when he was just 12 years old. Having faced the 2 years of chemo and radiotherapy, the cancer was sorted but, as is often the case with childhood cancers, the scene was set for a lifetime of medical complications.

Since then Maurice has undergone a heart transplant (and is one of the country's oldest surviving heart recipients), two hip replacements, a kidney transplant, an 'above the knee' amputation of the leg where the original cancer was, a bleed on the brain and a bunch of other stuff. He has been on dialysis for the last 5 years, with no possibility of a new kidney. He is wheelchair bound. And now, Maurice has been diagnosed with untreatable bladder cancer.

Maurice is on dialysis 3 times a week for 4 hours at a time. So every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday he needs to be in the local dialysis unit. This is non-negotiable as dialysis is essential for his survival. It used to be possible to organise dialysis for holidays at home and abroad through the Irish Kidney Association (who are amazing!). Ever since covid though, this is not an option as so many dialysis centres have zero additional capacity. As a result, we have never been away together for more than 3 nights, and then, never far. Every trip is bookended by dialysis so mentally and physically there is no escape.

So here we are, with even more uncertainty in the future. We really don't know how much time we have left. I am doing this gofundme to raise enough for Maurice to experience a proper holiday while he is still well enough to enjoy it. Dialysis and wheelchair accessibility are huge stumbling blocks, so we are hoping to go on a cruise, as dialysis can be scheduled into it and accessibility issues (like steps, hills, narrow doors etc) can be avoided. So Maurice can let his beard down, enjoy some sights, sunshine and a genuine proper break away from focussing on all things medical for a handful a precious days.

The challenge is that while this is one of the few practical options available, doing dialysis on a ship adds thousands to the cost. So I am reaching out to you on Maurice's behalf to help make this happen for him. Anything you can donate to help would be amazing and very much appreciated.

All my thanks to you,

Aoife xxx

PS the initial target we set didn't cover the costs so we adjusted it. Sorry for any confusion and again thank you all so so much for your generous donations. We are absolutely blown away and humbled by your kindness!!!