Second Christmas of the year for Little Star, Réailtín

Little Réailtín Fleming of Kildalkey and her family are looking forward to celebrating their second Christmas of the year next Monday.

When brave seven year old Réaltin was very ill last August, her worried family feared she wouldn't make it to Christmas, and decided to bring the festive season forward to September.

The family got together, planning everything to perfection and it was quite a celebration with a Christmas tree, presents, Christmas dinner and even a snow machine - and the good news is that Réaltin, her parents Joan and John, and brother Rian are now looking forward to celebrating it all again on 25th December.

“The family got together, Santa Claus came. It was lovely,” says her Dad, John.

Réailtín rallied after her first Christmas celebration of the year although she has had setbacks since, but the family are optimistic for the real Christmas celebrations.

“We left the tree up since, with the light off until recently,” John explains.

Réailtín, whose name means Little Star, is a real fighter.

She wasn't expected to survive more than a month or two after she was born, but defied all odds and celebrated her seventh birthday last January.

She was born with Trisomy Mosaic 9 and Dandy Walker Syndrome, with holes in her heart. She is also deaf and blind.

She entered her family's lives in 2016, immediately stealing their hearts. Unfortunately she was born with a bewildering myriad of debilitating conditions, which lead doctors to predict she would live just a few months at most.

“She was never meant to see her first birthday, but now she is seven. She has inherited her mother's stubborn genes and her father's too. She decided she wanted to hang around for a bit,” says John.

“She is up and down at the moment. She has very bad scoliosis and we thought we were losing her in August, so we decided to bring Christmas forward to September.

“We have a few bad weeks and then she improves, but unfortunately the good periods are getting less frequent. When she is good form she chatters away. We are hoping she will make it to her eight birthday on the 15th January, but we just take each day as it comes.”

The Jack and Jill Foundation has been very helpful to Réailtín and her family.

“They provide nursing most night when things are bad and Rian held a fundraiser for the foundation last year and raised €4,500 for them.”

Throughout it all Rian has been a wonderful big brother, always wanting to help his little sister.

Covid-19 brought a lot of challenges for the family and Rian was a trooper throughout.

Rian had to have antigen tests every time he went out. He missed birthday parties, because there would be too many other families there.

“He is great though, he understands and he loves his little sister deeply. He has a lot of support from the wider family, his grandparents, aunt and uncles and his teachers.”

While Réailtín has been quite ill recently, the family's philosophy is “take each day as it comes” and they take great joy in little Réailtín and her generous and brave big brother.