connect 2018 • 11 At CMRF Crumlin, we are committed to supporting Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin who see 120,000 children in a typ- ical year, and the National Children’s Research Centre (NCRC) who contribute to the global effort to finding transformative treatments, discovering cures and preventative breakthroughs of the future. Our goal is to help save and improve young lives, and to enhance the experience of children who are sick through improving their physical and support environment through philanthropic partners. We fund initiatives, and research that span each little patient’s journey. GREATER CARE WITH GREATER DIGNITY: OUR LADY’S CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL, CRUMLIN ThehospitalinCrumlinismorethan60yearsoldandsomeparts really feel it. In the past five years CMRF Crumlin have provid- ed significant philanthropic investment into developing and en- hancing the cardiac and gastroenterology wards, with support of The Ireland Funds and through our Best of Ireland dinner partnership with The Ireland Funds in New York. These transformation projects provide greater dignity to children and their families who attend with chronic illness, providing en suite rooms, greater use of modernized spaces and now including play facilities, parental kitchens, breakout facilities and improved technology and workspaces. Before the upgrade of the gastroenterology ward took place, children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and other gastro-intestinal and liver challenges had no access to single en suite rooms, as the few available en suites were required for other children who needed isolation (cancer care, cystic fibrosis etc). En suite rooms offer more than comfort and dignity; they prevent the spread of infection and exposure to public germs. The new ward also reduces anxiety, improves comfort and enhances safety and clinical care. “Happy times with your baby are transformed into hospital visits, being taught to do physiotherapy, and learning all about medication and dietary requirements. I like to be well-informed, so it was very scary stuff. We’re so lucky though. Alfie has a team which includes a specialist Cystic Fibrosis nurse, a dietician, a physiotherapist, a social worker and a psychologist. To have a team like that, just a phone call away, is unbelievable.” GEMMA DARDIS, ALFIE’S MUM WHEN A CHILD IS SICK, YOU WOULD GO TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH FOR THEM, TO FIND OUT WHAT IS WRONG, TO HELP PROVIDE COMFORT AND SUPPORTS ON THEIR JOURNEY, TO FIND TREATMENTS AND HOPEFULLY A CURE. “CF is a lifelong genetically inherited disease that currently has no cure. CF mainly affects the lungs and digestive system, causing difficulty breathing, repeated infections and malnutrition. Children with CF have to take tablets with every meal, do breathing exercises, and have physiotherapy daily. Support from The Ireland Funds allow us to learn more about this disease that has a mutual benefit for both countries.” PROFESSOR PAUL MCNALLY, CRUMLIN HOSPITAL Alfie & his mom Gemma