Print PageGenerous donation of €16,134 to Beaumont Hospital to support Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM) Research
Friday February 28, 2020
On 8th Sept 2018, John, a very fit & healthy 31year old experienced an unprovoked and prolonged seizure while sleeping. Thankfully, Kildare Ambulance Services were quick to the scene and transferred John to Naas General Hospital. After the initial scans, Beaumont Hospital, the National Neurosurgical Centre consulted on the case and he received the difficult diagnosis that he had an Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM) and an aneurysm in his brain.
Mr Mohsen Javadpour and his team weighed up all the treatment options available to John & we met in November 2018 to decide on the best course of action. Terrifyingly, doing nothing was not an option as John's risk of brain haemorrhage and injury to the brain would increase year on year particularly due to the presence of the aneurysm. In the end because of the large size of John's AVM, there was only one viable treatment option which was a craniotomy/open brain surgery. This treatment had the highest chance of a full recovery but also it posed the who works in Beaumont highest risk to John’s quality of life providing he survived surgery. (John is pictured above with Mr Mohsen Javadpour and his partner Karen Heverin Senior Clinical Biochemist in Chemical Pathology here in Beaumont)
John had surgery on 1st February 2019 and 8.5 hours later he was returned to the Richmond HDU following the successful removal of the AVM & aneurysm. Unfortunately, his recovery was not without complications and he suffered a brain haemorrhage 2 days after surgery, but thanks to the wonderful nursing team and Prof. Javadpour's team on Richmond HDU, he was very carefully monitored, and a second surgery was avoided. John was bedridden for a very difficult 5 days before he began to show signs of improvement. Thankfully his determination kicked in, his recovery took off and he was discharged home a mere 12 days later to begin his lengthy recovery.
If it wasn't for the confidence and talent of the neurosurgical teams in Beaumont, particularly Mr. Javadpour's team, John might never have had a chance. Due to the size of his AVM, we were told many neurosurgeons in Ireland and the UK would not have operated on it so we are beyond thankful. Deirdre the wonderful Neurology Specialist nurse was a huge source of support before, during John’s time as an inpatient and after surgery.
After being advised against physical contact sports, John took up running to help rebuild his fitness and joined the local Clane Athletic Club. He then got the idea to run ‘100 miles in a month’ as a fundraiser to express his gratitude to the team in Beaumont Hospital and contribute to neurosurgical research relating to his illness. All funds raised have been transferred to the joint research teams of Prof. Mohsen Javadpour and Prof. Niall Pender. To facilitate online donations we set up a GoFundMe page and promoted the fundraiser through Facebook and Instagram. We featured in an article the Westmeath Independent which highlighted John’s story and fundraising efforts. Finally to conclude the fundraiser, John’s family kindly organised a coffee morning in Mount Temple, Westmeath, which was very generously supported by the locals. We are extremely grateful for the support of family and friends and all who supported the fundraiser to bring the total amount raised to €16,134. John returned to Beaumont recently to present the proceeds to Mr Javadpour.
The fundraiser led to other AVM patients reaching out through social media to John to share their experiences. Aside from this, whole process of fundraising and giving back to Prof. Javadpour’s research activities after the exceptional care he received was very rewarding and worthwhile and John would encourage patients to take the leap and fundraise for Beaumont Hospital, as every little helps.
We wish John well with his recovery
