iPad the time of my life
Molly Daly’s parents were told that their daughter wouldn’t survive childhood, would never walk, talk, see or hear, and would be brain damaged.
After countless surgeries, procedures and years of continuing therapies, nine year old Molly has not only survived, she has thrived in every way.
Molly was diagnosed with a rare disorder called Kabuki Syndrome when she was two years old.
Kabuki Syndrome is a multisystem disorder that can affect things like facial features, intellectual ability, skeletal development and muscle tone.
Sufferers of the condition can expect a normal life span but are likely to suffer from multiple, ongoing medical conditions related to the disorder.
Molly’s mum Olivia said none of the above has come close to stopping her feisty daughter from living a full and happy life.
“She's spoiled rotten to tell you the truth, but a happy spoiled. She's a good child. Anyone that meets her takes to her straight away.
“Her teachers in school are always telling me that she's so happy,” Olivia told the Cork Independent.
Only one in approximately 32,000 children are born with Kabuki Syndrome worldwide and, according to Olivia, Molly is one of around 15 cases in Ireland today.
Two years ago, when Molly was in the Mercy Hospital for a kidney procedure, Olivia’s sister Mary decided Molly deserved something special.
“We were going down North Main Street and my sister says, 'I'm going in now and printing off a form. That child deserves a wish after all she’s been through!’.”
Olivia and Mary filled out the form together and sent it off to children’s charity Make A Wish Ireland and a few weeks later they received a phone call.
“Two lovely ladies came up to the house to see Molly and she told them she loves Mickey and Minnie Mouse. She's had them at her birthday parties every year since her first birthday, so they asked her would she like to go to Disneyland,” explained Olivia.
However, with the arrival of Covid-19 and the subsequent lockdown, the trip to Disneyland Paris had to be postponed indefinitely.
Olivia said: “A few weeks later I was at home and the phone rang and it was Make A Wish again. I had a big party arranged for Molly with characters booked to come up to the estate and do a show for her as a surprise. I said she actually has need for nothing, so give a wish to another child.”
Still determined to grant Molly a wish, Make A Wish asked to speak with her on the phone and asked her what she wanted most in the whole world.
To her mother’s dismay, Molly said she would love an Apple iPad just like the one her aunty Mary has.
“The big box came and we hid it upstairs and I arranged on the following day for my sister to present her with the box, because after all, it was her that got the whole thing going,” said Olivia.
Shortly after, Olivia got yet another call from Make A Wish saying that Logitech Cork wanted to write a book and use Molly as the main character, Molly the Mouse.
Eager to give something back to the charity, Olivia and her husband decided to sell the book through their city centre restaurant business and managed to raise €13,150 for Make A Wish.
Since then Molly’s book has become very popular amongst pupils and teachers in schools around Cork and Molly has been busy signing copies for people.
Olivia said: “Just before Christmas she was coming out of school and she says, 'Mum, get me out of here!'. I said, 'Who are you speaking to?', and she says, 'I'm a celebrity, get me out of here!'.”