‘I have a disability, it’s a part of me but it is not all of me’

Mornington teenager ‘on a mission’ to let other young disabled people know that ‘they are not alone’

A BRAVE young man from Mornington who was born with a rare genetic disorder that left him needing the use of a wheelchair says he is ‘on a mission’ to let other disabled teenagers know that ‘they are not alone.’

Eighteen-year-old Conor McAuley was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) a rare condition that affects one in 3,500 male births and causes the progressive weakening and wasting of muscles, the heart and lungs when he was just three-and-a-half years old.

Conor who admits that he struggled to come to terms with his disability says he is “not sure he would be here today” if a freak accident hadn't forced him accept his wheelchair as a part of his life

Growing up feeling “like an outcast” among his peers led him to become severely depressed and he struggled with his mental health for years according to the Colaiste Na Hinse student.

Through counselling and medication, the determined young man has overcome his demons and has now taken to social media to share his experience in a bid to help others.

He said: “As a young kid with this a disability you just feel like an outcast, you feel empty and lost because people don’t treat you the same, you just want to be treated like everyone else.

“I have a disability, it’s a part of me but it is not all of me.

“When you are a teenager you don’t want to feel different and when I started secondary school I was trying to fit in with the other kids.

“I was embarrassed to talk about my condition, I just wanted to do what everyone else was doing but I couldn’t because my body was getting weaker.

“I was taking steroids and that was tough as well because you have mood swings and they made me get really angry and frustrated.

“I went to an all boys school where most of the lads played sports and there I was someone who couldn’t run or jump or climb.”

Conor who has just completed 6th year in the Laytown school and lives with mum and dad Tanya and David as well as sisters Aoife (21) and twin Caitlin began to resent having to use a wheelchair and worked his hardest to walk unaided often to his detriment as he explains.

“I didn’t want them to know I had a disability, I didn’t want anyone to know I had a wheelchair so I refused to use it, I just wanted to be like everyone else.

“I thought I could defy the odds and not use it and even thought I could reverse my disability, I was just in denial, I didn’t want to believe that this was my life.

“The strength in my legs was weakening and I was finding it hard to get up and down off seats because my leg muscles were getting worse so it wasn’t good for me but I just couldn’t give into it.

“I was full of hate and anger towards people because they had everything that I wanted.

“I had a really tough period of time where I really struggled mentally.

“I went to counselling and did that really help me a lot, I started taking medication to get my mood back on track. It took me a long time to recover from that but I feel like I’m in a good place now.”

The inspirational Mornington teenager was dealt a further blow in 2017 when doctors told him that he should give up on ever walking again after breaking his leg but determined Conor defied the odds and got back on his feet.

“I fell on a foot path and broke my leg in 2017 and I couldn’t walk for four months.

“I remember one of the doctors told me to give up on walking all together and in my head I just couldn’t accept that, I couldn’t sit down and just be defeated.

“After that I had four or five months of rehabilitation and I was using a walking frame and eventually after the four months I got up on my feet again.

“I’m actually really grateful for that happening, I was in such a bad place in my mind that I don’t know if I would be here today if I didn’t break my leg.

“I needed to accept the chair and I needed to accept that it was going to be a part of my life and I don’t think that I would have accepted if I hadn’t been forced to.

“Now I have just accepted it and said to myself if this is happening in my life I have to build my life this way and realise that despite everything I’m still a lot luckier than a lot of other people.”

Conor hopes to make a difference by sharing his journey on social media. He said:

“I’ve always wanted to do something like this but never had the confidence but now I want to speak up for the people who can’t speak up for themselves.

“I’m just using my social media platforms to share videos and positive messages and information about the condition and stories about my daily life.

“Growing up there was no one like me that I could relate to.

“There is not a lot of people with my condition who do this and I don’t think the condition is very well known so hopefully I can make a difference.

“If I can just help one person to know they are not alone it will be worth it.”