Clonmel community rallies to support ten year old girl facing surgery for a spinal tumour in Great Ormond Street Hospital early next year

The Clonmel community is rallying behind a ten year old girl who is to undergo surgery for a spinal tumour in Great Ormond Street Hospital in London early next year.
Ellie O’Flaherty, who is a daughter of Jamie and Christine and has two brothers Evan and Jack, faces a huge battle in the new year.
To support Ellie and the family a Go Fund campaign was launched on Saturday.
The Sisters of Charity 4th class pupil was diagnosed with progressive scoliosis in 2015 and her family was told that she needed spinal fusion surgery.
However a routine MRI scan taken shortly after the scoliosis diagnosis revealed that Ellie had a large tumour in her spinal cord.
Because of the position of the tumour, doctors in Crumlin and Temple Street hospital were unable to perform a biopsy and the decision was made to scan Ellie every few months to monitor any changes.
Due to the complexity of the tumour, doctors in Great Ormond Street Hospital, London were consulted and Ellie met with a neurosurgeon there in November of this year.
Hospital consultants have decided that the best course of action for Ellie is to undergo surgery in London in early 2020 with a view to removing as much of the spinal tumour as possible.
This surgery is not without risk and could lead to lower limb paralysis but this has been determined as the best course of treatment for her.
The spinal fusion surgery for the scoliosis was delayed because of the spinal tumour and is on hold until the outcome of the Ormond Street operation is known.
Despite her deteriorating condition, Ellie has continued to enjoy playing for Clonmel Town where her role as a tenacious defender in the u-10 team is highly valued.
Ellie is also a big supporter of Tipperary football and she loves watching her brother Evan play in goal for Tipperary whenever she can.
“Ellie has a massive battle ahead of her in the new year so as a family we are just trying to make Christmas special and Ellie and Jack are excited about it” said Jamie O'Flaherty.
“The support, kindness and generosity shown to us has been overwhelming and we can’t thank those people enough. While fundraising is still ongoing we really appreciate every contribution to date, ” said her mother Christine.
“We avoided fundraising for as long as we could but after meeting with the neurosurgeon in London we now realise that Ellie has a very long and tough battle ahead of her that will require a lot of care and assistance. It will mean that both myself and Christine will need to take time off work to be with her during her recovery in both London and Dublin. Family members and friends were anxious to help us in any way they could and suggested setting up a Go Fund Me page as an initial fundraising effort.” said Jamie.
Support Ellie on the Go Fund page