Paul and Laura Lynch live in Rathmullan with their four children children. Paul works for An Post, Letterkenny & is taking part in the 555km Donegal Atlantic Way Ultra cycling race this weekend as part of a 4 person team along with his colleagues from the An Post Letterkenny depot Paul Herrity, Paul Crampsie & Martin McGinley.

 

The An Post lads are hoping to raise money for Temple St. Children’s Hospital as it is a charity close to Paul and his wife Laura Lynch’s heart.

 

Their little girl Éabha Lynch who is just 20 months old was born with a rare genetic condition called Blepharophimosis, ptosis, and epicanthus inversus syndrome (BPES). Éabha was diagnosed at seven weeks by Professor O’Keeffe, an Ophthalmologist at Temple Street’s Childrens Hospital with BPES. Even though neither Paul or Laura carry the gene, Éabha is one in 50,000 people who have been diagnosed with this & only 3 people that they know of have this rare condition in Ireland. When Éabha was born she couldn’t open her eyes.

 

Laura Lynch commented, “I knew something was off when Éabha was born, I sensed it. It was just a feeling, but enough of one to tell me that something was not right. I’ve welcomed three other beautiful children into this world, and I understood the swollen nature of a baby fresh out of the womb, but Éabha just couldn’t open her eyes.”

 

“When we got a referral to Temple Street Children’s Hospital, when Éabha was 7 weeks old, they immediately booked her in for surgery and the next morning after she was diagnosed she was operated on. The surgery was performed on both her eye lids and since then she has had 2 of the same operations & she will continue to have these operations on both her eyes for the rest of her life. We were told that if she had not been diagnosed by 12 weeks she could have been diagnosed as blind, a worrying thought for any parent.” Say’s Laura.

 

They both cannot thank the consultants, doctors, nurses & staff at Temple Street Children’s Hospital enough for their support and they are delighted at any opportunity they can get to not only create awareness of the condition but to give back to the hospital in any small way for the support and care that Éabha and they have received. Éabha also regularly attends the Nurologist, the Speech & Language & the Dietician clinics at Temple Street all of which is an important part of Éabha’s recovery after & before her operations.

 

“Éabha’s eye sight is not great, she has impaired vision and her eye lids will continue to fall which is why she will need surgery for the rest of her life. BPES although is a rare condition there are symptoms that can be looked out for at birth. Eyes not opening after birth, a child having a broad nasal bridge, low set ears and a shortened distance between the nose & upper lid. Éabha is the apple of her families eyes and she brightens up everyone’s day that comes in contact with, especially her sister and her two brothers and we are all very proud of her and love her very much, even after all she has gone through & will always have to go through, she still manages to smile.” says doting Dad Paul.

 

Éabha will be very proud of her Daddy and his colleagues when they complete the 555k Donegal Atlantic Ultra Race this weekend!

 

The lads and Laura would like to thank everyone who already donated through their sponsorship cards and if you would like to donate to the An Post LK Temple Street Charity you can contact Paul Lynch, Paul Crampsie, Paul Herrity or Martin McGinley or you can log onto the idonate page

https://www.idonate.ie/…/11365701_an-post-lk-wild-atlantic-….

 

Full details on their Facebook Pagehttps://www.facebook.com/AnPostLetterkennyCharityCycle/