eimear skyped her classmates weekly
CAN you imagine spending most of the school year in hospital? That's what 11-year-old Eimear Keogh had to do following a major bowel operation.
The youngster from Glanmire in Cork was brought to Our Lady's Children's Hospital in Crumlin, Dublin, in November 2010 and didn't leave until the following June.
Throughout that time Eimear attended the hospital school and it was a huge success, explains mum Trish.
"Eimear did the whole of fourth class in the hospital school and she loved it. It was a bit of normality at a very abnormal time in her life," says Trish.
"The hospital school helped make the situation more normal for Eimear -- the rest of the time it was all things like physiotherapy and blood tests, so the hospital school was one of the only normal things she had.
"They were very good -- they did music, art and science as well as subjects like Irish, English and maths.
"She had homework to do as well, and they were very interested in her progress.
The youngster attended the hospital school from Monday to Friday between 10am and 12 noon.
The teachers linked up with her school in Cork, St Joseph's National School in Glanmire, so as to stay in touch with what Eimear's class was doing.
And not just that -- the teachers in Crumlin also ensured that Eimear and her classmates didn't lose touch despite her long absence.
"They Skyped the teacher and her classmates in Glanmire from the hospital, so Eimear was able to talk to her classmates in Cork every week!
"It was absolutely brilliant -- it made her feel that she was still part of the school and the class, and she knew that her schoolfriends had not forgotten her.
"It made a huge difference."
Eimear was finally discharged from Crumlin last June and started fifth class at St Joseph's last September.
"I had her parent-teacher meeting recently and her teacher said that you wouldn't know that she'd spent a whole school year in hospital."
Originally published in
