Lacey takes it all in her stride meeting President
By Aideen O'Flaherty
A FIVE-YEAR-OLD girl, who received a heart transplant in January, met President Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina in Áras an Uachtaráin at a St Patrick’s Day reception for people whose lives have been impacted by organ donations.
Lacey Robinson, from Clondalkin, was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy last February, a heart condition which decreases the heart’s ability to pump blood as a result of the heart’s main pumping chamber being enlarged and weakened.
President Higgins and his wife Sabina with Lee, Michelle Robinson and their daughter Lacey
The following July, Lacey’s condition got worse and by August she was put on a transplant list before ultimately receiving her new heart early this year.
The young girl, who completed junior infants in St Bernadette’s Junior National School in Quarryvale but wasn’t able to attend senior infants in the school this year due to her health issues, was invited to meet the president along with her parents Michelle and Lee Robinson.
Michelle told The Echo: “Lacey’s a great little girl, she took it all in her stride and she’s so happy.
“It was lovely [to go to Áras an Uachtaráin], and it was so homely when we went inside.
“The fact that the president was highlighting organ donations meant a lot to the families who have received organ transplants.”
Michelle added: “Lacey was on a high after meeting the president, and she’s not a shy girl so she loved being in the limelight.”
Looking forward to going back to school
Lacey has taken well to her new heart, and her parents are open with her about her heart transplant, so she is aware that she “has a new heart and that it came from someone else,” said Michelle, and is now looking forward to going back to school in May.
Michelle explained: “She loved school, even when we were in hospital she still wanted to go to school.
“It’s amazing for a little girl, who was going through heart failure, to still want to go to school while she was in hospital.
“She’s eager to get back to all of her little friends.”
Recipients and medical personnel involved in transplant operations were invited to the St Patrick’s Day event in Áras an Uachtaráin, including Pamela Martin from Lucan, who is waiting for a lung transplant, and Sean McEvoy from Newcastle, who received a heart transplant in 2016.
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