Three-year-old Dublin girl to travel abroad for brain tumour treatment not available in Ireland

She will undergo five major surgeries in the coming weeks.

A three-year-old Dublin girl needs to travel to Germany for specialist brain tumour treatment. Zoe O'Mahoney was diagnosed with the rare and aggressive malignant tumour last month. She immediately received emergency surgery to drain the fluid around her brain, and will need a further four more surgeries in Temple Street Children's Hospital over the coming weeks to fully remove the tumour. She will also need to travel abroad to Germany for specialist proton therapy once her doctors are satisfied with her progress. Zoe's parents, Carmel and Alan, have said that they are "devastated" by their daughter's sudden diagnosis. "Zoe is a bright, beautiful and brave three year old girl," they said. "She loves making her baby sister Holly laugh, her friends, playschool, Sylvanian Families, reading storybooks, singing, playgrounds and wearing pretty dresses and hairbands." The pair have set up a fundraiser called Zoe's Magic Wand in order to ensure that Zoe gets the appropriate treatment and care during this difficult period in her life. Proton therapy has been used for the treatment of cancer for over 50 years, however access to the specialist care is currently not available in Ireland. Zoe's care - both in and outside of Ireland - will be hospital based, meaning that she will need someone by her side 24/7. Carmel and Alan are hoping to raise €100,000 to cover the cost of their daughter's treatment, the time they will miss from work to care for her, and the cost of travelling to and living in Germany during this time. At the time of writing, they have raised over €18,000. You can find out more about Zoe's Magic Wand fundraiser here.