Kilmessan teen who’s battled serious illness proud to back ‘Trick or Treat’ campaign

A 14 year old Kilmessan boy, who has battled serious illness over the years has got behind a major fundraiser for the Children's Health Foundation.

Luke Staunton, who was the face of the 2017 Trick or Treat campaign returns this year to support the fund raising campaign for the foundation on the campaign's 25th anniversary.

Trick or Treat for Children’s Health Foundation is a hugely significant tradition that has raised vital funds to support sick children and their families across Ireland. Since 2000, schools, crèches, families, and communities have united every Halloween to support funding for Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) hospitals and urgent care centres at Crumlin, Temple Street, Tallaght, and Connolly. These generous efforts help fund lifesaving equipment, groundbreaking research, essential family supports, and world-class care for Ireland’s sickest children.

Luke Staunton was born in July 2011, his parents’ first baby and a very welcome arrival. It had been a normal pregnancy for his mother, Ciara, but within hours of his birth, it was apparent that something was wrong.

“When he was born, he had his first bottle and he aspirated and it started coming out his nose and everything,” says Ciara. “He was brought up to Temple Street at one day old and he was operated on because his oesophagus wasn’t connected. During surgery, this was then connected but they also discovered he had an imperforated anus. So he had to have a colostomy bag fitted at one day old as well. That’s how we found out how serious it was. He was in ICU and he was very frail and sick.”

While he was still in CHI at Temple Street, Luke was diagnosed with VACTERL association, a collection of congenital anomalies that affect multiple organ systems. Ciara explains: “Luke’s two things are his oesophagus and his bowel. I suppose in a sense, he’s lucky. He doesn’t have the other condition like his heart, or there can be missing limbs. But it is a major struggle with what he has.”

“I suppose we were very naïve at the time, because we didn’t realise just how sick he really was until more time had passed. It became clear as we saw how many problems he had afterwards with his chest and the coughing. He seemed to pick up every illness so easily, getting sick all the time. His immune system was just so weak, and he was vulnerable to everything.”

Luke’s early years were marked by a cycle of procedures and reviews. “We lost count of the amount of times over the years he had to go in and out of hospital,” says Ciara. “It was daily trips up and down after we got home for him to be weighed and checked.”

“He went on to have multiple surgeries on his bowel,” she says. “His most recent surgery was in July last year.”

As Luke got older his care transitioned. “He moved to Crumlin about eight years ago just because they would have more of a team for stoma care and he had a procedure done in Crumlin that he couldn’t do in Temple Street,” Ciara explains. Now 14, Luke also continues to have treatment daily at home.

The support from the hospitals has been a constant. “They are absolutely brilliant. We’re linked in with an amazing team,” Ciara says. “The stoma care in Crumlin is unbelievable. I’d call them our family now, and it’s like going from home to home now. You just build up such a relationship over the years and get to know them so well and they know us so well. The care and support is super.”

Like lots of teenagers, Luke is sports mad. “He loves hurling, and was picked for the Meath team this year” Ciara smiles. Luke also loves rugby. An unforgettable memory was when CHI at Temple Street gifted him a day as a mascot for the Irish rugby team. “In 2020, he got picked as a mascot for the Irish rugby team and that was a very big thing for him” she says.

Luke has also helped to raise awareness and funds for the Foundation and helped launch ‘Trick or Treat’ in 2017 for the Foundation. “He loved it,” says his mother. “Doing things like this shows the good side of hospitals, that it’s not all procedures and medicines. They make things very normal for children who are sick and for parents, that sense of normality matters.”

Luke has two sisters: Zoe, who is 10 and not affected by VACTERL association, and Sophie, aged 2, who is. Sophie was born with a malformation. “I won’t say we’re lucky, but we’re lucky we know the system so that it wasn’t as big as a shock to us as it was with Luke,” says Ciara. Sophie is cared for in Crumlin but does not require the same level of medical intervention that Luke does.

Ciara says fundraising events like ‘Trick or Treat’ make a profound difference for her family. “It’s already hard enough to face a diagnosis and care for a sick child without carrying all the extra weight on top of it,” she says.

“Fundraising really does make a difference. It means more machines, more procedures, more tests. It helps the staff so much, and it’s absolutely essential. I don’t think the hospitals would be what they are without it. Fundraising provides not only vital equipment but also toys, Xboxes and the little things that help make hospital life easier for sick children.”

The foundation is asking the public to host Trick or Treat Parties This Halloween in their schools, crèches, offices, or homes to raise essential funds for sick children.

Those who sign up will receive a free party pack with posters and decorations, stickers and spooky games, a collection box, fundraising tips and access to downloadable content for extra Halloween fun.