Our dear friend, the talented and generous artist Kim Sharkey, has found herself unable to work for many months, due to a series of devastating health emergencies. She is in the early stages of a lengthy recovery.

We hope the people who have been touched by Kim’s work across Ireland and farther will be able to help support her in getting through this difficult rehabilitation.

Kim underwent spinal surgery in September of 2024 which left her with nerve damage and chronic nerve pain. Through her own strength and resilience, and with the assistance of a lovely team of medical professionals, she was able to start back to work after summer of 2025, and by the end of 2025 she had worked through the pain to continue her work in drawing, arts education, illustrating award-winning children’s books, and making ceramics and facilitating ceramics classes in her studio in Dungloe.

That all came to a sudden end in April of this year, when driving home from her studio one night Kim drove into standing water on a flooded road. That jolt was enough to send her back to hospital for further spinal surgery, and she has been in hospital and hospital rehab since then.

It has been a difficult four months for Kim, who was left for six days with no feeling in the lower half of her body following the surgery this year. She has worked her way back to walking slowly, with support, though the second spinal surgery has also left her with further nerve damage. This is a long-term recovery, and doctors say it will be about 18 months before Kim knows how lasting the nerve damage will be.

In the meantime, Kim is setting up her life in Donegal to continue her recovery away from the hospital. She has had to move house, as her former home was deemed unsuitable for her present needs. Kim has applied for State supports, but this process takes time, and in the meantime she is left with no income over her time in hospital and uncertainty as to when that will change.

This is where we hope people will be able to offer support. In addition to living expenses, there will be the purchase of some pieces of furniture to accommodate her current mobility, as well as taxis for local transport. There are also costs associated with her treatment and rehabilitation. For example, Kim has to travel twice to Dublin in the coming weeks, to meet with consultants. All of this is costly, and Kim’s inability to work full time for almost two years has understandably depleted her savings, and she wanted to acknowledge amazing support from family and friends over the last two years through this all.

Kim was reluctant to allow us to create this GoFundMe but as her friends, we recognise the urgency of the situation. We also recognise that times are difficult for everyone. We would only say that any donation at all will be most gratefully received for the expenses Kim faces.