Convoy schoolgirl Mikaela Breen is back doing what she loves best after an amazing recovery from major spinal surgery in January.
The eight-year-old is coming on in leaps and bounds – as her dance school video will show you!
Video: @Hayden School of Irish Dance
The Hayden School of Irish Dance welcomed Mikaela back to class with open arms in September. She has made an incredible post-surgery transformation, having progressed from being a wheelchair user to an energetic dancer and an independent young girl in less than a year.
Wanting to dance again was a motivational factor in Mikaela’s recovery, according to her mum Sinead Breen.
Mikaela benefited from massive levels of community support last year, as €38,000 was raised to fund life-changing surgery on her tethered spinal cord.
Mikaela was born with Spina bifida lipomyelomeningocele, which greatly affected her mobility, and she has neurogenic bladder and neurogenic bowel. She underwent specialist surgery in Liverpool in a bid to halt the damage being caused to her compromised kidneys.
Mikaela Breen in 2017
Now, Mikaela is back on her feet and showing great improvement in her kidneys – something her parents Sinead and Chris couldn’t have ever imagined.
Sinead told Donegal Daily: “She is just brilliant. We wanted to halt the damage to her kidneys and try to save the mobility she had left but she has been transformed. Mikaela has literally never known what it’s like to be pain free and is healthier than we ever dreamed.
“There was less than a 1% chance of surgery helping her kidneys, the risk of paralysis was much greater so we didn’t dare to hope that we would get this result,” Sinead added.
Mikaela requires just 20% of the procedures she needed prior to her surgery. Her energy levels are back up, she is able for a full day at school and can go to friends’ parties without constant care.
Sinead paid tribute to Raymond Sweeney and Louise Hayden of the Hayden Dance School for their fundraising efforts on the ‘Mobilize for Mikaela’ campaign, as well as everyone who made the surgery possible.
“You have literally given our little girl her life back,” Sinead said.