Dan Donoher is the 14-month-old son of former Laois county footballers Niall Donoher and Sarah Quigley who last December was diagnosed with a rare genetic neuromuscular disease called Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Type 1and Scoliosis.

Essentially it is a muscle-wasting disease which has already robbed Dan of his ability to lift his legs, maintain head control, and lie on his belly.
And because his muscles are too weak for a strong cough, mucus can get trapped in his lungs which makes breathing more difficult for him and a common cold life-threatening.

The life expectancy of a SMA type 1 child is 18-24 months, but there is now a ground-breaking once-off infusion treatment called Zolgensma which can substantially improve the quality of life and survival of the disease.

The only problem is that it costs roughly €2Million and is only available in the USA.