Children’s Health Foundation are calling on hotels across Co. Kerry to donate a night and change a life by taking part in their ‘Hotels for Little Heroes’ campaign.  The campaign asks Irish hotels to donate the cost of a night’s stay to raise vital funds to help give every sick child in Children’s Health Ireland at Crumlin, Temple Street, Tallaght, and Connolly the very best chance. 

Killarney native and patient in Children’s Health Ireland at Temple Street, Alexis O’Mahony, teamed up with Children’s Health Foundation Ambassador John Burke from The Armada Hotel to launch this new campaign and urge Irish hotels to help change the lives of sick children who spend time away from home in hospital.

Alexis was born with Pyruvate dehydrogenase deficiency (PDH), a rare and serious condition that affects her metabolism. This has meant the past few years have been challenging for Alexis and her parents. “Alexis had no energy as a baby, no energy to smile or even cry” said Teresa, Alexis’s mother. “One night I heard a big laugh, I was overjoyed – where was this energy coming from? But it wasn’t a laugh, she was having a fit.” 

Unfortunately, spending time away from home can be an inevitability for a child when they become sick. There are children, like Alexis, who can spend months at a time in hospital. That is time away from family and friends; away from their own school, sport and all the things that make a childhood. The Children's Health Ireland  frontline teams provide loving, compassionate care every day, but being in hospital can be a lonely and scary place for children.

By registering to take part in the campaign, hotels can support children like Alexis as they spend many nights in hospital being looked after by the amazing Children’s Health Ireland staff.  

Hugh Kane, interim Chief Executive at Children’s Health Foundation said, “Hotels for Little Heroes is a fantastic way for Irish hotels to support sick children in Children’s Health Ireland hospitals and urgent care centres. By donating the cost of a night’s stay in your hotel, you can change the lives of sick children and provide vital, life-saving funds to support the incredible work in Children’s Health Ireland at Crumlin, Temple Street, Tallaght and Connolly. We’d like to extend a huge thank you to our wonderful Ambassador John for helping us launch Hotels for Little Heroes and for the Armada Hotel’s support.”

To register and find out other ways hotels can get involved, visit https://www.childrenshealth.ie/hotels-for-little-heroes/ or email modonnell@childrenshealth.ie