A Furry Friend for Andrew to raise funds for young boy with rare brain disease

Furry friend for Andrew – Andrew pictured above has moyamoya, a very rare brain disease

A Furry Friend for Andrew to raise funds for young boy with rare brain disease

By I Love Limerick Correspondent Jade Crowe 

A fundraiser has been set up by Trina Dundon to raise funds for a service therapy dog for her son Andrew who has moyamoya, a very rare brain disease that only six people in Ireland have.  

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Andrew is the only person in Limerick to have moyamoya and began getting sick as a very young child.   

At just 20 months old, Andrew began having multiple strokes. While Andrew and his family endured a lengthy visit to Temple Street Children’s Hospital in 2015 while Andrew was in rehabilitation for a stroke on the left side of his body, the young boy, unfortunately, fell victim to another stroke on the right side of his body. In the short space of just 6-8 weeks later, Andrew underwent another yet another stroke, which saw him rushing straight back to Temple Street Hospital after a short stay at home.  Furry friend for Andrew

Andrew is always smiling says his mum

Andrew was soon advised by doctors in Great Ormond that he would be a good candidate for EDMAS and EDAS neurosurgeries to help the blood flow to his brain increase. The surgeries proved to be very successful, with Andrew having his last stroke in October 2015.  

Andrew’s mother Trina said, “the surgeries saved his life, and he is now striving and thriving and stronger than ever. Moyamoya is a progressive disease so Andrew will be closely medically monitored for the rest of his life. Needing MRI’s MRIA’s angiograms and perhaps further surgery in the future. Andrew is also fed via a Mic-c button as the Strokes affected his swallow. Andrew is mobile and he never really stops moving. He gets tired quite quickly due to having the strokes, so he uses a wheelchair too.”  

Moyamoya is an extremely rare condition whereby vital blood vessels that carry blood to the brain become narrowed. Because moyamoya is so rare, the direct cause of it is unknown.  

As Andrew also has autism, a service therapy dog would greatly help him, while benefiting his moyamoya. A service dog would be able to put Andrew at ease at times of panic and agitation which would lower Andrew’s blood pressure significantly, which greatly decreases the chance of a stroke.  

Andrew’s mum Trina also added, “Andrew is an unstoppable little boy. As all my friends and family know that ever since he was born, he never stops smiling, he is the happiest person that I have ever met. Through everything that he has gone through he has never had a bad day and is always happy and having fun and laughing, he is very funny and has a great sense of humour. He is a very resilient little boy. I watched Andrew learn to walk four times in one year and he will absolutely love to have his own dog that will be dedicated to him and be his companion. I would like to thank anybody for taking the time to read Andrew’s story. If anybody can help us reach our goal, we would be very grateful. Thank you so much.”