Enya's Rehabilitation from Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS)

This is our beautiful Granddaughter and niece Enya Callaghan. She is the only child of our son/brother Kevin and daughter/sister-in-law Valeria, they live just outside Presov, in Slovakia.

On Friday 31st January our son Kevin collected Enya as usual from school. Enya was complaining of feeling unwell. By 7pm that evening, Enya could barely stand and had a horrific head ache and was complaining of her spine being extremely sore. Saturday the 1st of February Kevin and Valeria took Enya to the hospital in Presov. Tests were carried out but unfortunately they did not find anything and were asked to bring Enya home and to keep a close eye on her.

Enya continued to deteriorate and lost power in her legs and she was in unbearable pain. Kevin and Valeria had to ring an ambulance and Enya was rushed back to the hospital in Presov. Enya underwent many tests, including suspected meningitis.

Guillian-Barré Syndrome was finally diagnosed and Enya was rushed to Košice City Hospital to the critical care unit and placed in an induced coma and put onto a ventilator. Enya remained like this for the next ten days, intravenous transfusions of plasma were administered directly into Enya's neck to fight the infection.

This was an extremely worrying time for Kevin, Valeria and both their families in Sligo and Slovakia as we waited and prayed that the transfusions would work.

Thankfully Enya responded well to these treatments, and now after weeks, she is awake and off the ventilator and has been moved from critical care. However, Enya's muscles still remain very weak, her vision at the moment has been affected and she has a long road of recovery ahead.

Guillian-Barré Syndrome (GBS) is a rare neurological disorder in which a person's immune system mistakenly attacks part of their peripheral nervous system - the network that carries signals from the brain and spinal cord to the rest of the body. GBS can suddenly become worse over hours, days or weeks until certain muscles fail to work properly. Often feet are affected first, followed by weakening in muscles making it's way upwards through the body to the legs, arms and breathing muscles.

This video will explain further how serious Guillean-Barré Syndrome is:

Understanding Guillian-Barré Syndrome

Kevin is a full time carer for a family member of Valeria's at their home in Slovakia. Valeria is a full time social worker. Valeria will not be able to work for the next while because she needs to be available at the hospital for all of Enya's rehabilitation care in the coming months, Enya's recovery will be a long process. Enya's immune system has been seriously compromised, so only one parent can stay with her during her recovery. The medical costs of Enya's Rehabilitation will have to cover months of hospitalisation which will be expensive and time consuming, leaving Kevin and Valeria in an impossible situation of not being able to work.

The Callaghan family are asking no matter how small, if you could donate to help Kevin, Valeria and Enya. We would also like to thank all our friends and family who have been calling and checking to hear news of Enya's recovery. It's been a very helpless, emotional and scary time for us all, and we're all so appreciative of all the prayers, love and support that has come our way for Enya, Kevin and Valeria.