Fundraise for Daria's surgery

Pastor Adam McCormick is organising a fundraiser for Daria Hangiel.

Daria, a young deaf woman, very active in Northern Ireland’s deaf community and a very caring, strong person, started to get sick in the past few years. She didn’t know what happened. Her body started to get weak for no reason. Then she found herself unable to eat…and when she does, she would throw up. She found it very hard to eat, live and get on with her life. Her body started to turn against her. Being deaf and not having English as her first language, it was a real struggle for Daria to find out what was wrong with her. Living far away from Belfast (where sign language interpreters are available), it is hard for her to get good interpreters in her area – and when she does, she would have to wait weeks. Delays and communication problems have made her condition worse and worse.

As things got worse, her movement became more restricted and she had to seek treatment from various doctors who seemed to be stumped by her condition. It is impossible for her to fly home to family in Poland as she is very limited in her movements.

Random pains in her tummy, never-ending vomiting, dysphagia, the inability to eat without having complications. It was a very scaring experience for her. Daria had to be admitted to hospital several times since 2019 while the doctors were trying to identify the problems etc. Eventually, they have found out what was wrong with her: GORD (sometimes known as acid reflux disease).

Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) is a condition where acid from the stomach leaks up into the oesophagus (gullet). It usually happens when the oesophageal ring starts to get weak. The ring is to control the stomach acid in your food pipe. When you have GORD, your oesophageal ring will not work well, affecting your health and your ability to eat.

To correct this problem, Daria will need a fundoplication surgery. It is to wrap the upper curve of the stomach (fundus) around the oesophagus and then sewed into place. It is a major surgery. Because of the communication issues and the pandemic, Daria had to wait a long time on the NHS before she got all her answers. Now time is running out for her. It can be years before she can get the fundoplication.

Mr Scott McCain, a gastrointestinal surgeon, will carry out the operation at Ulster Independent Clinic. He is an expert on complicated upper-gastrointestinal problems with many years’ experience working in that area.

As Daria cannot afford the treatment on her own as it can cost in the region of £10,000.

We are very keen for Daria to get the treatment as soon as possible. With the progression of her symptoms now, she is at a level where they will accept her, but with acceleration of her condition, this won’t always be the case.

It is not easy for Daria to make the decision but she is determined to halt the progression of this awful disease.

The deaf community is supporting Daria as much as we can both emotionally and financially throughout her journey and Daria would really appreciate any help with fundraising and any contributions towards the cost of the fundoplication that anyone can make.

It really would mean so much to Daria, the deaf community and us all.

Thank you for your kind generosity,

Pastor Adam