BREAKING: Tipperary teen receives award after donating bone marrow to sick sister

A young teen from Mullinahone, Tipperary has recently received an award for his selflessness from a charity in Ireland.

Dylan Quirke (who was born with congenital heart defects) is only 14-years-old and was nominated for the award after donating a litre of his bone marrow to his little sister Sophie.

The Brave Heart Awards Lunch where Dylan recently received the award, was organised by Heart Children, the national organisation that provides lifelong support to people born with congenital heart disease (CHD).

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Sophie (aged 10) recently underwent a bone marrow transplant in Glasgow following 2.5 years of cancer treatment, having been diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) in January of 2023, at the young age of seven.

“The treatment protocol was daily oral chemotherapy, monthly IV chemo, with lumbar punctures, bone marrow biopsies and spinal chemotherapy infusions every 12 weeks,” says Dylan and Sophie’s mom, Martina Quirke.

Martina explained how common Sophie’s type of cancer is. “We were told that this (leukaemia) is the most common type of childhood cancer and is seen as ‘the good’ type of cancer, which is the worst example of an oxymoron, I know…

“The haematology/ oncology consultants explained to us how difficult the two plus years of treatment would be, but how good Sophie’s odds were of being fully cured. We believed in those odds, and wholeheartedly took on the battle as a family” she said.

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Sadly, in February 2025, on Sophie’s very last lumbar puncture- one week before she was to “Ring the Bell”- the family were given the terrible news that the cancer had returned.This time not only in her bone marrow but in her Central Nervous System and Cerebral Fluid.

Roger and Martina learned that the only option for Sophie now was to have a bone marrow transplant and the search began for a donor. Sophie’s parents were told that while a sibling donor was the optimal choice for best outcomes, the chances of finding a match in a sibling was generally low at only 25%.

“The team warned us that it would be a miracle if her brother was a match,” Martina said. Thankfully, the news was positive from the start, as Sophie matched more than once on the unrelated global database. I believe particularly in Germany, a country that sees a high number of bone marrow donations from its benevolent citizens.

Speaking about her son Dylan and his selflessness when donating his bone marrow to his sister this year, Martina explains Dylan’s own health struggles. “Dylan was born with congenital heart disease- specifically a Coarctation of the Aorta, ASD and VSD.

“He required two open heart surgeries in his first 6 months of life. In fact, one of the holes was so large, they couldn’t close it, so they put a synthetic patch over it which he will have for life,” explains Martina.

“When the news came that he was a match, we were so overwhelmed. Rog and the medical team were ecstatic with the result, but I have to admit I was torn at the thought of both our children being so vulnerable and exposed simultaneously" explained Martina.

The teams in both CHI Crumlin and in the Schiehallion Transplant Unit in Glasgow had to conduct a myriad of tests to ensure that his body was ok to go through the physical stress of harvesting his bone marrow under General Anaesthetic”.

The system in place was so incredibly thorough and transparent- with Dylan having an independent interview with a representative from the Human Tissue Authority to advocate his right to refuse at any time, and a medical Doctor who was entirely representing Dylan’s interest through the process as well as a psychological evaluation to corroborate his consent.

A keen sportsman, Dylan has gone on to represent Tipperary in all three academy teams of Gaelic football, Hurling & Soccer. Dylan was a member of the prestigious Kennedy Cup team in soccer which was held this summer at the University of Limerick.

Martina explains that the children’s grandfather, Mike (former well-known furniture store owner in Mullinahone) always says that they must have given Dylan some bionic parts during the surgeries, because of his energy and zest for life.

Following the good news that Dylan was a match, the family were told that they’d have to move away to Scotland for a period of 6-18 weeks of isolation for Sophie to undergo this treatment. “There's been no paediatric transplant consultant in Crumlin since October 2024,” explains Martina.

“We were told we would be sent abroad for a transplant, it could have been a range of different countries but we were eventually sent to Scotland. Knowing we would be away from our family and support network, it was extremely difficult and traumatic,” recalls Martina.

“We have encountered one hurdle after another but we have a very strong little girl, we’re so lucky. The Gavin Gylnn foundation have been amazing too with organising safe transport for Sophie when travelling to Scotland. They also found us an apartment close to the hospital for the 12 weeks, it was helpful to have a base there. Particularly so Dylan could come over and stay with us anytime he wanted to.”

Martina & Roger would like to extend their thanks to everybody who has given the family support during this difficult time.

“We’d like to extend our sincere thanks to everybody for their love, support, prayers, and generosity- we received so much kindness from our friends, family and neighbours in Tipperary, Kilkenny, Galway, up and down the country and further afield. When the chips are down in life, that’s when the troops rally around, and for us it was like being enveloped in a huge warm hug. Words will never adequately express what the many quiet deeds & gestures meant to us”

Some welcome news is that Sophie’s cancer is now in remission thanks to the bone marrow transplant. “We’re now 116 days post transplant and just received Sophie’s clear MRD (Measurable Residual Disease) results.

"We prayed that Dylan’s magic bone marrow would help her and it has so far. It’s still hard for her as she’s not allowed to go to school due to risk of infection, following full body radiation twice a day for four days on top of intense chemotherapy to prepare for the transplant. As a result, her immunity is not there anymore,” says Martina.

"The most important thing is that we have progress and please God our precious little girl will thrive from here on in and get back her childhood. All any parent wants is a happy, healthy child…  All else in life is secondary," she concluded.