Conor defies death to help battle killer disease

Conor defies death to help battle killer disease

9 October 2013

MOST 21st birthdays are celebrated as milestones, but few more than Conor Donnelly’s. At just eight weeks old he made an unexpected recovery from the most serious form of meningitis after being on a life support machine for ten days.

While doctors had lost hope his family hadn’t and thankfully he survived.

Conor is now an ardent fundraiser for the Meningitis Research Foundation. Every year along with his grandfather Malachy Doran, from Downpatrick’s Avenue Bar, takes to the streets to collect for the charity, and to date they have raised over £17,000.

Conor and Malachy have thanked all the people who helped raise £1,826 at their most recent collection on September 21 and hope to encourage a few more street collectors for next year.

Among the proud family members who recently celebrated Conor’s 21st birthday is his grandmother Margaret Doran.

Explaining that her grandson was born several weeks premature she remembers him taking ill shortly after coming home.

“He had a high temperature and was all sticky,” said Mrs Doran. “We went to the doctors myself and Anne [Conor’s mum] and they told us to go straight to the hospital.

“We were going into into the Ulster when a Dr. Gledhill was coming out. She was off on holiday but when she saw Conor she turned back.

“She was the doctor who took control. We were shown into a room and given tea and told Conor was on a life support machine.

“She said ‘I think he has the worst form of meningitis’. On day eight they told us to turn the life support machine off. I said please do not turn the life support machine off. We are Catholics. We are doing a Novena.”

Shortly afterwards Conor began to show signs of recovery.

Although a long road to recovery was ahead Conor defied the doctors’ expectations, and the former St. Colmcille’s High School student has recently qualified as joiner.

Thinking back to how ill he was as a baby, mum Anne also described Conor’s recovery as “absolutely marvellous, absolutely brilliant”.

“I am a nurse and I did not recognise it in my own baby,” she said of the symptoms of this potentially killer disease.

“They do make much more of it now, though, such as the advertisements with the glass test.”

“People have been very good over the years in making donations,” she added.

Conor himself says he knows how “very serious” it was at the time of his illness and hopes to prevent as many children as possible going through the same ordeal.

He also said awareness of meningitis symptoms “could be better”, especially for parents with young children.

“The rash and the temperature are some of most noticeable but there is also dizziness, a very bad reaction to bright lights and headaches,” he said.

While they are not short of donations, Conor and his grandfather Malachy are short of collectors.

To assist in the next collection for the Meningitis Research Foundation contact Malachy at the Avenue Bar in Downpatrick, or on 4461 5335.