Emily's Spin for LauraLynn in place of Leinster Ride Out No. 8

Next Sunday (29th September), bikers from across Ireland will ride out in aid of LauraLynn, the fabulous facility that provides specialist palliative and supportive care services to meet the needs of children with life limiting conditions and their families in Ireland (https://www.lauralynn.ie/).

Emily's spin has been organised by a team including Nikki and Rob McCormack, whose four year old daughter, Emily, has profound intellectual and physical disabilities. LauraLynn provides respite care for Emily and her family.

The Leinster Wings (and all GWOCI members) are invited to support and take part in Emily's Spin for LauraLynn in place of the penultimate Leinster ride out (No. 8) scheduled for Sunday 29th September. Wings meet for coffee / breakfast at McDonald's on the Kylemore Road at 9am, departing together just before 10am to meet the rest of the bikers at Maxol Service Station on the Long Mile Road for pre-spin speeches and stands. The spin will include one or two stops along the way and will finish up at the Family Fun Day at St. Brigid's GAA Club in Castleknock.

Fancy dress / superhero costumes optional! Hope to see you there!

Meet Emily

Emily's mum, Nikki, has penned a few words that are well worth a read - from the "Emily's Spin for LauraLynn" Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Emilysspin/

Hi everybody, meet Emily. Emily is our happy four year old superhero who was born with some very real superpowers. From 35 weeks gestation, Emily’s dad, Rob, and I were given the news after a routine check up that she would be born with multiple complications with her heart, lungs, brain and kidneys. We were told that we should prepare for an extremely sick child. When she dramatically came in to the world, we learned her complications didn’t stop there. Emily also had conditions such as craniosynstosis (this means that the bones in her skull wouldn’t fuse properly) and she was unable to feed orally. In spite all of this, Emily is a wonderfully happy soul. She has the gift of having the ability to make everyone who meets her fall in love with the energetic, fun loving character she is.

As our little girl grew bigger, those superpowers of hers became even more apparent. She was able to zap away her heart condition. Now where she had two holes in her heart, she closed them up, and just for good measure her kidney reflux was gone too. Her diagnosis is now one of a profound intellectual and physical disability, which gives her the movement, and intellect of a six month old baby. This comes along with a chronic lung condition and her inability to feed orally.

Emily had a critical setback last November when she became very unwell and, after an emergency surgery, she was diagnosed with sepsis and an E-coli infection. She spent six long days on a life support in intensive care. She, thankfully, bounced back after three weeks. Throughout all of these challenges in her life, Emily has smiled, laughed and showed us what true love really is. We know she learned all of this from her big sister, Mia. The bond that these two have is simply unbreakable.

Having your very own superhero can be a bit challenging, tiring and sometimes tough. It’s during these times that Emily goes to visit her friends in LauraLynn for sleepovers. This is a place where the care they give her is simply second to none. Between the nurses and the volunteers there, Emily constantly receives one to one care where they spend their days creating art masterpieces and meeting celebrities from the TV and the music industry. She’s met Kodaline, Alan Hughes and Karen Koster to name but a few. She also gets to enjoy everything sensory that LauraLynn has to offer.

We now need your help. LauraLynn is a wonderful organisation that is solely dependent on donations and sponsorship to keep their doors open for children all around Ireland like Emily. Any donation, no matter how small, is greatly appreciated.

Watch a video of last year's event here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHhvDKzjDkE&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR3WoWAq3SAmciIKjsebzL9nXK_xhWmmiBvkGYHO7boig-1WLx2-P_D1B5Q