Parents sing praises of charity

A Cavan family has helped launch an emotional new charity single alongside singer Pixie Lott to raise awareness of the challenges families face when travelling long distances to care for seriously ill children in hospital.

Parents Lisa Gaffney and Séan Wall, who spent 227 nights at Ronald McDonald House in Dublin while their daughter Tilly received life-saving treatment, joined other families from Ireland and the UK to record ‘I’m Gonna Be (79 Miles)’, a reimagining of The Proclaimers classic ‘I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)’.

WATCH: Pixie Lott - I'm Gonna Be (79 Miles) on YouTube.

The campaign highlights the reality that families supported by the charity travel an average of 127km - or 79 miles - to visit their children in hospital.

For Lisa and Séan, the message behind the song is deeply personal. Their daughter Tilly was born at Cavan General Hospital on January 22, 2022, with a rare congenital condition known as Pierre Robin Sequence, which affected her ability to breathe.

Characterised by an underdeveloped jaw, tongue displacement and obstruction of the upper airway, the condition meant newborn Tilly was immediately transferred to ICU at Children’s Health Ireland at Crumlin, where she underwent an emergency tracheostomy and remained in hospital for seven months.

Over the following year, she underwent six more theatre procedures as her parents remained by her side.

Recalling how the project came together, Lisa said the opportunity arose during a routine hospital visit, when they were asked by a member of Ronald McDonald House to get involved. They didn’t give it much more thought.

Lisa explained that the couple were later contacted by a London PR company working on the campaign.

“They had enlisted Pixie Lott to help, and they had secured the rights from The Proclaimers to use the track. Obviously McDonald’s were backing the whole campaign, and they wanted family members who played music to form the band.

“That’s kind of how it all came about.”

Lisa, who plays piano, and Séan, a guitarist, travelled to London alongside three other families to record the track at the iconic Metropolis Studios.

“We literally flew to London, met in the legendary Metropolis Studios - where artists like The Rolling Stones, Amy Winehouse and so many others have recorded - and we recorded the track there.”

The experience, she said, felt surreal from start to finish.

“We kept looking at each other going, ‘Yeah, right.’ It’s definitely not your average day.

“Then the second day we were brought to London Film Studios - again, massive - and we filmed the second part of the video there. The kids got to come with us and meet Pixie as well.

“So it was just two days of amazing, unbelievable experiences, all for such a good cause.”

Now aged four, Tilly is thriving - something her parents once feared they might never see.

“Tilly’s great. She’s doing really well,” Lisa said.

“I’ve enrolled her in national school in Mountnugent for September, and honestly we didn’t know if we’d ever see that day, so it’s a huge milestone and one we’re really looking forward to.

“She’ll still be attending appointments both in Cavan and Dublin for the foreseeable future, but they’re all pretty routine now - nothing scary thankfully.”

Reflecting on the local family’s journey, Lisa said the support network around them had been extraordinary.

“Four years ago feels like a lifetime ago,” says Lisa recalling having to search for foster nurses.

“Since then she’s had so many surgeries, and so many milestones came later than expected. But with the help of the team in Crumlin, the team in Cavan, the primary care unit, and our fabulous nurses, we had such a collective of support around us.”

She adds that the Ronald McDonald House has been a huge part of that village too. “Honestly, more than a village - a whole town helped get her to this point. So yes, things are really good now.”

Despite her nerves about performing, Lisa said supporting the charity made taking part an easy decision.

“The drive to help Ronald McDonald House meant more to me than the absolute fear and nerves I had going into the studio. I did classical piano, but I’d never gigged or done anything like this before. Seán had played guitar too, but it had been seven years since either of us had really done music just for fun because life gets so busy.

“But honestly, if the Ronald McDonald House asked us to help with anything, we’d say yes. They supported us in so many ways.

“At one point I did think maybe we’d bitten off more than we could chew, but thankfully it all turned out really, really well.”