Garda Tom the newest recruit with Little Blue Heroes
Nine-year-old Tom Lynch from Kilskyre was thrilled to recently be made an honorary garda with the Little Blue Heroes.
Tom was presented with his garda uniform from Garda Sandra Christie of Athboy Garda Station and Garda Tom Dooley and Sergeant Elaine Long of Kells Garda Station and his mum Nikki told how he loves dressing up in it.
One of his first outings to wear the uniform was the recent Bumblebee Run and trolley dash event in Smyths Toystore in Navan and Tom was in his element proudly showing it off.
Tom has encountered a lot of health problems over the past year and spent a lot of time in hospital so news that he was being made a Little Blue Hero gave him a great boost.
Sergeant Elaine Long said they were delighted to make Tom an honorary garda and she spoke of the little boy's incredible positivity and that of his family which had made a huge impression on them.
"I have never met a young lad in a situation like he is in, to be beaming positivity and happiness, they way he is. Both him and his family, and we are delighted to be involved with them. Everyone who knows Tom will tell you how positive he is. It is the first thing that struck us about Tom. And he never ever complains."
Tom was born with poor muscle tone and a huge fundraising drive was launched in 2016 for specialist therapy to help Tom fulfil his dream to walk.
His mum Nikki said at that point they didn't have a diagnosis for Tom and his treatment went well for the first two years.
"At that stage we had no diagnosis. Then in about 2018 we got a diagnosis through genetics that it was Dejerine Sottas Syndrome which basically meant that the energy going to the muscles isn't there. Through the peripheral nerves, the message is not getting to the muscle to tell it what to do.
"It is a slow progressive disorder. By the age of seven we learned that he definitely wasn't going to walk."
Tom is finding it more difficult to walk with his frame now and uses his wheelchair all the time but Nikki said his powered wheelchair gives him great independence and he is flying about in it.
Tom attends mainstream school in Kilskyre NS with the support of an SNA and is in third class. He loves going to school and spending time with his many friends. He also gets huge support from his big brother Charlie (15) and Lucy (13) who adore their little brother.
Since the diagnosis, Nikki explained that Tom's care hasn't changed. He doesn't need medicine, there is nothing to help him, but he has a lot of therapy and Nikki explained that occupational therapy is very important- having the right seating, wheelchair and sleep system.
"For the last year Tom has been in and out of hospital to do with his breathing. It kept happening at night. He wouldn't be able to breath and ended up in intensive care. They were trying to figure out what was wrong. He has bad scoliosis as well and we thought it was squashing his lungs but tests revealed he wasn't breathing out his carbon dioxide and it was basically poisoning him. He got hooked up to an bi-pap machine. He couldn't take a deep enough breath at night."
Nikki told how Tom had been very sick in hospital every couple of months and their nurse coordinator Irene had put Tom forward for the Little Blue Heroes. They forgot all about the application until one day, they got a call from one of the gardai at Kells Garda Station to say they were coming out to Tom to give him his uniform.
She said Tom was delighted and absolutely loves dressing up in his garda uniform.