Joy as Sharon Ball prepares to fly home this week
Bohermeen mother of three Sharon Ball is due to fly home from New York this week following surgery to tackle a rare and aggressive cancer.
The wonderful news was delivered by Sharon herself, who expressed her gratitude to the many people who had supported her with donations and prayers over the last few weeks.
"After a successful surgery, I have been given permission to fly home later this week, whilst I await confirmation of the next stage of treatment," she said.
"I am just lost for words with the continuous support at home. I have been watching and hearing about all the fundraisers.
"The prayers, I can feel them everyday helping me to recover and heal.
"I owe this second chance of life to you all. I get to come home to hug and kiss my beautiful, resilient children again.
"You have given me hope , always remember nothing is impossible," she said .
Sharon got great news following the surgery. Her MRI results confirmed that 97 per cent of the tumour was removed, according to a post on her GoFundMe page.
"Step one has been a great success and we pray that the next steps of treatment will be as successful,said Catherine O'Brien, who set up the fundraiser.
"This would not have been possible without each and every one of you and we thank you again for your donations, shares ,hopes and prayers.
"Please continue to keep Sharon in your prayers as her journey to recovery continues."
The news comes almost two weeks after Sharon arrived in New York with husband Dermot, following an overwhelmingly generous response to a Gofundme campaign to raise money to fund the treatment.
Sharon, who teaches at St Mary’s National School in Trim saw chemotherapy treatment here prove unsuccessful, and she was given an opportunity to undergo surgery on her stage four skull-based osteosarcoma in the specialist Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan, NY.
With the procedure and associated treatment and recovery expected to run to hundreds of thousands of euro, a fundraiser set up by her family has seen donations exceed a staggering €800,000.
Before her arrival in New York a family spokesperson told the Meath Chronicle:
"It's hard to get your head around. It's good for you to see that there's that kind of level of support and humanity out there. It's brilliant. Just seeing all the local businesses and people being so generous is just amazing."
"This is the little light at the end of the tunnel now for her, and hopefully things go well. As I said, like, Sharon's not looking to climb Mount Everest. She's not looking to swim the Atlantic or anything.
"She wants to see Sophie take her first steps. She wants to see Louis start school in September, the things that we all take for granted that she's working incredibly hard and fighting for."
Chair of the fundraising committee and Sharon’s sister in-law, Aoife Ball, said: “Sharon is at the centre of her young family and her community, and this surgery has offered real hope at a time when options were extremely limited."
Further details of the fundraiser can be found here https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-sharon-get-urgent-life-saving-brain-surgery