'God has moved so many hearts with our appeal,' say family

Fionn Aherne from Griffinstown is off to China early next month for the stem cell treatment that his devoted parents hope will change his life.Fionn (6) was born with West syndrome, a rare form of infantile epilepsy. Diagnosed when he was three months old, he can suffer from more than 100 seizures a day.After being told by doctors last year that there was nothing more that they could do for their son, Fionn's parents, Robert and Iris, were given a glimmer of hope that Fionn's quality of life could improve if he received stem cell implantation.Stem cell treatment is expensive and last year the Ahernes embarked on a mammoth fundraising drive. Fast forward six months and numerous events later, the Ahernes are preparing to travel to China with Fionn on February 5.In a written statement to the Westmeath Examiner, the Ahernes paid tribute to everyone who had helped them achieve their goal.'We could not and never will accept that nothing can be done and until the last breaths in our bodies we will search, push, and fight for anything which may offer our little treasure a hope of a life free from the awful seizures which blight his beautiful life.'We were given some hope with stem cell implantation, however, the cost of accessing such an intervention seemed out of our reach. We embarked on a journey of fundraising, which in six short months has been achieved and even given us enough to cover all of the expenses.'But that journey has not just given us the financial means to go for Fionn's treatment, but has given us so much renewed hope in human-kind.'We know that God has moved so many hearts with our appeal and apart from the many fundraising efforts we are so encouraged and strengthened with the many people who have been praying all over this country and indeed the whole world. The fundraising efforts have been truly amazing, we will not mention names here as so many people have helped we would feel truly awful if we omitted one single person.'You all know who you are, each and every one of you, so for the prayers and well wishes, thank you; for the miles that have been walked and the miles that were run for our boy, thank you; for the bags that were packed and the buckets that were filled, thank you; for the songs that were sung and the races that were run, thank you; for the drinks and the food, for the singers and dancers, the fashion shows, the auctions, the raffles, the prizes, the ties, the newspapers, the TV, the shops, the car, the aeroplanes, the beds, the phone calls, the emails, the attending, the participating, the donating, the website, the publicity, the effort, the work and all the love, thank you all so very, very much.'So now we are set to go, we ask you to keep Fionn in your hearts and prayers as we will keep all of you in ours and the great thing that you have done for our boy. God bless you all.'