‘It’s nice to give some support back to hospital’
By Hayden Moore
NOW in its third year, Ellie’s Xmas Heart Appeal hopes to bring in even more donations after they received and delivered five trolleys of toys to the sick children of Our Lady’s Children Hospital last Christmas.
Ellie’s Xmas Heart Appeal was set up in conjunction with Crumlin United Football Club in 2016 after Ellie Carlile was born with only one kidney and a serious heart condition that lead to her needing open heart surgery.
Toys presented to Our Lady's Hospital
Just four-months-old at the time of the surgery, Ellie spent the following week on life support after contracting a norovirus in hospital and the next 10 weeks in the Intensive Care Unit of Our Lady’s with other complications.
The Walkinstown family weren’t sure if their third child would be able to celebrate her first Christmas at home with her mother Elaine telling The Echo: “Her brother Alex, who was five at the time, was worried about her not being home in time for Christmas, so that’s kind of where the idea came from.”
Having seen first-hand how hard it is for the children in the ward around Christmas, Ellie and her parents Shane and Elaine over the past two years have travelled back to Our Lady’s to give back to the children Ellie once shared the ward with.
“She’s four now and she’s doing great, we’re delighted with her and it’s nice to be there at a happy time for a change and be able to associate going to the hospital for Ellie as a very happy time.
“When we where on the ward it was so hard coming up to Christmas and being from Crumlin I would have passed the hospital nearly everyday and wouldn’t have given the place a second thought.
“You don’t realise what the people do in there, they’re all great, and it’s nice to be able to maybe give some sort of financial aid to those in the ward, because it’s a very hard time,” stated Elaine.
Every year people donate toys and presents by putting them under the Christmas tree in Crumlin United Club Canteen Shop, and now this year half of donations made to the Christmas tree in Ashleaf Shopping Centre will also go to Ellie’s Xmas Heart Appeal with the other half to St Vincent DePaul Shoebox campaign.
The community has come together for Ellie’s cause with Ballyboden St Enda’s GAA Club and Assumption Primary School in Walkinstown also backing it after Ellie started Junior Infants there in September.
Elaine expressed her delight with seeing her baby all grown-up saying “it was such a big achievement to see her in her little uniform heading off to school”.
