When Irish army officer Captain Gerry Casey told his wife Theresa that he had an opportunity to be posted to the Middle East, neither of them could have foreseen how it would become a life-changing event for them -- and especially for their little daughter, Rachel.

Born with Down Syndrome and serious heart defects which had been described by medical professionals as like "Swiss cheese", Rachel had already received intensive medical treatment, including a number of heart procedures at the National Children's Hospital, Crumlin, under the care of Dr Kevin Walsh.

She had responded well to treatment but Dr Walsh suggested that Rachel would benefit from a warm climate which could increase her life expectancy by up to five years.

Not only did little Rachel benefit from the warm climate, but thanks to a combination of luck and the determination of her parents, the two-and-a-half-year-old is making a remarkable recovery after another heart operation performed at the Schneider Children's Medical Centre of Israel in Petah Tikva by Dr Elchanan Bruckheimer, a former student of Dr Walsh in Crumlin.

And standing unaided for the first time last week, Rachel's recovery also bore testament to the remarkable support provided to the Irish toddler by the Jerusalem-based Shalva Association for Mentally and Physically Challenged Children.

Her mother Theresa says the type and range of therapies offered at Shalva are amazing -- from hydrotherapy, speech, physiotherapy, play and music therapies to name just a few -- with intervention aimed at children as young as a day old.

Gerry and Theresa, who also have three older children, Sean (9), Emma (7) and Louise (5), were amazed at the reception and support they received from Shalva which is based in an ultra orthodox area of Jerusalem.

They were concerned that they would be treated differently because they were Roman Catholic and associated with the UN but instead they quickly realised that the normally closed community had opened itself up to Rachel and her family.

Last week, Gerry, one of 11 Irish army officers posted to the Middle East as part of the United Nations' Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO), paid tribute to the Israeli surgical team and the variety of therapeutic treatments Rachel had received from the Shalva Association.

The delighted father also praised the excellent care and treatment which Rachel had received from Dr Walsh and Mr Lars Nolke in Our Lady's Children's Hospital in Crumlin, and the Irish health authorities before the Casey family left for Israel.

"I have nothing but praise for the wonderful attention and treatment Rachel received in Ireland,'' Gerry said last week.

Rachel's mother, Theresa, added that the experience of travelling around Israel as well as visiting Egypt, Jordan and Dubai had been an adventure for all of them. The family said they would love to stay longer but are due to return to Ireland in January.

Shortly after arriving in Israel in July 2008, Gerry began the search for facilities catering for children with special needs like Rachel.

In Jerusalem, he visited Hadassah-University Medical Centre on Mount Scopus where staff told him about the Shalva association which is based in the neighbourhood of Har Nof in west Jerusalem.

At first, Gerry was told that Shalva could accept no more children. Deflated, he sat down in the association's courtyard when a visiting tourist group came out of the building and asked him to take a photograph. He agreed; an act of kindness that would change his luck and that of his family.

Among the tour group was American-born Shalva spokeswoman Andrea Simantov, who listened to Gerry's story and offered to put him in touch with Shalva owner and founder, Kalman Samuels. From that moment, the lives of the family -- and in particular that of Rachel -- changed dramatically as the toddler was subsequently accepted onto a Shalva programme.

Mr Samuels set up Shalva in 1990 with his wife Malka, some 13 years after their son Yossi was left blind, deaf and acutely hyperactive after a routine DPT vaccination.

The family had struggled to find the support needed to take care of Yossi at home, and it was this experience that had spurred the Samuels to create an organisation for disabled children and their parents.

Today the organisation, which receives 25pc of its funding from the government and the rest from private donations from abroad, helps around 450 children from birth up to the age of 35 via a variety of programmes, which not only provide for the child but also empower the entire family. All services provided by Shalva are free.

The association also offered the Casey family an insight into an orthodox Jewish world that most visitors rarely see.

And in return Gerry and Theresa organised a special event at Shalva recently with over 100 distinguished members of the international diplomatic community to highlight that access to the association was open to all.

Among the VIPs who attended were Irish Ambassador Breifne O'Reilly, Irish representative to the Palestinian Authority James Carroll, personnel from UN organisations UNRWA and UNESCO, as well as the Red Cross, and UNTSO Deputy Chief of Staff Colonel Timo Rotonen from Finland.

- Peter Smith

Irish Independent