After hearing the story of Graham and Joanne McFarland the NI Limousin Cattle Club has sprung into action with a plan to raise funds for the NI Children’s Hospice who has supported the family recently.

Graham’s brother Howard runs the Rahoney herd in Trillick, Co Tyrone.

Graham and Joanne’s son Andrew is struggling with a rare neurodegenerative condition, a variant form of Late Infantile Batten Disease (CLN5) which causes blindness, complex epilepsy, along with the loss of mobility, the ability to communicate and swallow. Just before Christmas Andrews health deteriorated, he became seriously unwell and after a long stay in hospital the family found themselves in the care of the NI Children’s Hospice over the Christmas holiday period. Graham said “We thought Andrew wouldn’t make it to Christmas, but thankfully he did, and being at the Hospice allowed us to spend time together as a family after almost two months of being separated by hospital stays. The nurses and other staff gave up their time at Christmas so we could spend the special time together; we will always be grateful to them for that” He went onto say “The staff t the hospice are simply amazing, nothing whatsoever is a problem to them. There was always someone on hand if needed and we were looked after in every way. We managed to have some very valuable quality time with our close family”

Following their experience the family want to give thanks to the Hospice by raising funds and Howard has donated two embryos to be auctioned at the BLCS sale at Ballymena. Many other donations have been received, the full list can be found on the BLCS website.

This JustGiving page has been set up for anyone who would like to make a donation to this worthwhile cause.