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Niall Hurley from Tralee who fell seriously ill in Canada.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help a Tralee man who suffered a life-changing illness abroad.
Niall Hurley from Clogherbrien was spending two years in Calgary, Canada, working on residential building sites doing carpentry work.
He was due to leave on Thursday, February 16 because his two year work visa was up in March.
“He seemed fine and was looking forward to returning home,” said his brother Ian, who works in Calgary.
Ian explained that Niall blacked out on Sunday evening, February 12, four days before his flight home.
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He was taken to a Medical Center by ambulance and an Ependymoma brain tumour was discovered through CT scan and further MRI in the cerebellum part of his head.
Dr John Kelly operated on Niall on February 22 for 10 hours and the surgeon believes Niall’s recovery could take up to two years.
“We cannot say enough good things about the people here in the hospital and the people that started to help Niall by visiting, sending cards and prayers and texting our family non stop,” said Ian.
“The Irish community here are amazing in the way they come together as a team when times call for it. It means so much especially when people are away from home,” he said.
Niall’s parents, Barbara and Kevin, who are living in Clogherbrien, flew out immediately and are by his side for the last five and a half weeks.
“My mom and dad are great,” said Ian. “They are doing shifts at the hospital to ensure one of them is with Niall 24hrs. Niall’s doctor will let him fly back to Ireland when he deems him fit for travel but will likely be transferred from one hospital to another.”
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Niall will require therapy and rehabilitation in Ireland and possibly some type of further treatment, added Ian.
Members of the Calgary Irish community have rallied round and created a GoFundMe page to help with costs associated with bringing Niall home.
The description on the page reads; “After brain surgery and much therapy the family eventually hope to take Niall home but he is so unstable it will require the medical support of an accompanying doctor and nurse. If you can assist the family in anyway to make this happen please check out this go fund me page. Thank you so much on behalf of this lovely family who have been at his bedside at the Foothills hospital, Calgary since this happened.”
If you would like to contribute, click here to go to the gofundme page. The Irish Cultural Society have set a target of $10,000 dollars and as of Monday at 12.15pm, nearly $3,500 has been raised.
