Brave little Erika Martin has undergone many operations in her short four years of life and in the past six months, has battled with a rare form of cancer and received treatment.
By Claire Corrigan
Her devoted parents are heartened by the support being extended to them by friends and other people, and also by two GAA clubs who have a major event arranged for this week-end, with a big Mullingar fundraiser also planned.
The little girl has battled against serious illness since she was just four weeks old, and last Christmas, the family found that a tumour had been discovered in the pelvic area, and she has been undergoing surgery and other specialised treatment since then.
A big fundraising event to help little Erika has been arranged for Sunday next, 14 July by the St. Munna’s Camogie Club and Turin Hurling Club in and everything raised will go towards the little girl’s treatment. There will be a 5Km run/walk starting at 11am on Sunday, in McCabe Park Turin and afterwards there is a bake sale, and the clubs have appealed for full community support.
The subscription is €10 for adults, €5 for a child or a family sub of €25.
A group of Louise’s friends (Jenny Flynn, Katie Bradley, Amy Clyne, Avril Daly and Laura Flynn) have organised a major fundraiser for the family on Sunday, 11 August from 12pm at Columb Barracks, Mullingar where there will be face-painting, bouncy castles, a bake sale and lots of other entertainment for what will be a very special Family Fun Day.
The little girl’s family are hoping locals will get behind their daughter for both fundraisers on 14 July and 11 August in Mullingar.
Erika is fighting a rare form of cancer, known as embryonal rhabdomysarcoma in the pelvis. Erika was first diagnosed on the 24 December 2018 a week after having brain surgery for a shunt revision for hydrocephalus which she has being living with since she was four weeks old.
Erika’s kidneys failed on Christmas Eve and she ended up in intensive care on dialysis in Our Lady’s Children Hospital Crumlin where she started her first round of chemotherapy. Since then, she has had nine cycles of chemo along with alternative medicine which has reduced the size of the tumour greatly.
Erika lives with her parents Louise Kelly and Joe Martin, and her older sister Sasha, in Oakcrest. Mullingar. Speaking to Topic this week, Louise said that they noticed the youngster was feeling unwell in November.
“She was vomiting from mid-November. Her shunt was redone on 11 December because it became blocked. They didn’t realise at the time that the tumour had caused it to block.”
When Erika’s condition failed to improve, Louise brought her young daughter to the hospital. “She was going downhill and I kept bringing her to the hospital. Eventually, on 23 December, they did a scan and found a tumour and she was sent straight up to Crumlin.”
Erika remained at the hospital until 10 February with her devoted parents never far from her side. “When she was in intensive care we couldn’t stay in the room with her but we had the parents’ accommodation. When she moved back down to the ward for the last three weeks, I could stay with her in the room.”
Louise remains positive about Erika’s condition and said the little girl’s has improved since receiving chemotherapy every three weeks before undergoing surgery on 21 June. “She was in for a week after that and 97 per cent of the tumour has been removed. The rest was in between blood vessels and they could not remove it. She had to have a section of her urethra removed and they had to use a stent to pin one of her ovaries up to her bone to allow the radiation to have access to the tumour. So although they didn’t know it before they went to work, it was major reconstructive surgery.”
The family will meet with the radiology department at Crumlin on Thursday to discuss further treatments. “The radiology has major side-effects and organs can be damaged and may stop growing. She has a weak right kidney as it is so they are a little worried about that. We will know more on Thursday about what they think they will do to get rid of the last bit of the tumour.”
The plan for Erika’s further treatment is not known yet but it’s likely she will need to go to Germany for proton beam therapy treatment which can consist of an eight week stay. Along with this is also the expensive cost of medicinal medicine. “It would be a lot better for her because it doesn’t cover such a wider area. The treatment end is covered by the HSE, but living expenses will not be covered.”
Louise said that Erika’s devoted older sister Sasha has been very concerned about her little sister. “Lately it is getting on top of us and my partner finds it hard to even talk about it. It’s a hard thing to even think about.”
Aside from the heartache her parents and sister have had to suffer, the cost of Erika’s treatment has run into thousands meaning the family are struggling to cope as they dedicate their lives to ensuring their little girl gets better. The family have already paid hundreds of euro to stay by their daughter’s side throughout her treatments as well as various other costs.
“Joe was out of work for two months helping me to look after Erika and because he was self-employed, we received no financial help during that time. We were really really struggling and had to borrow to make ends meet.”
Joe is now back in work three days a week, because he is needed at home to care for their daughter. “He isn’t getting any money half the week and it is difficult. He can’t go back to a five day week because I need him here. If we do go to Germany, he won’t be able to work for those weeks that we are there.”
She said that with this particular form of cancer, they know there is a considerable chance that it will return in the future.
She expressed thanks to the two GAA clubs who have organised the big fundraiser for next week-end, to help them as much as possible.
“I also want to thank all the girls who are organising the fundraiser in August and everyone who has helped in any way. Everyone in the town has been so good.”
