Have you ever seen and wondered what those black and yellow ambulances are driving around the country?  Have you ever seen the inside of an ambulance?  It can be a frightening experience for a very sick little boy/girl. A Bumbleance is an ambulance with a difference, they have all the amenities of a regular ambulance, but it includes the all-important extras to make a sick child’s journey as safe, comfortable and entertaining as possible. Bumbleance provides the transport for sick and critically ill children between hospitals, to and from home and treatment centres nationally, the first of its kind globally.             

They also provide Angel trips, where they transport a dying child to their home so that the child can leave this earth and grow their angel wings with their parents and family by their side, at such a harrowing time it tries to remove some of the cold clinical environment for the child on their last journey.              

Another part to Bumbleance is the Saoirse Foundation, which is dedicated to making positive life impacts for very sick children. It acts as an advocate service to kids in Ireland that have rare genetic and life limiting disorders. Our little boy Finn comes under this, and we find it extremely hard to get support for him as his syndrome is so rare. He doesn’t come under any umbrella like the more well known illnesses and is falling through the cracks. The Saoirse Foundation are giving Finn a voice to access services that he so desperately needs.             

It’s important we all help out charities like these and try and learn more about their work, it’s a tough subject to think about but it needs your input, there are so many families out there that have no choice but to think about and deal with this every single day.             

My two sisters (Mary and Anne) and I are planning on running the half marathon in Dingle this September 1st to fundraise for Bumbleance, in order for them to continue to give the much needed support for sick children in Ireland, whether it’s transporting a child to chemo session to finding support for children with genetic and rare disorders. Please can you dig deeply and support our run? Any donation would be so much appreciated, be it €20, €50 or whatever you can afford, any amount would help!