In the blink of an eye Clare Kavanaghs life changed and she shares her inspirational story with us

<div>A chairde,</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>At the start of 2023 I was going about life normally, working away, planning for the future, enjoying time with friends, family and looking forward.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>In what seemed like a blink of the eye, all that changed. I had been experiencing persistent neck pain for months, going to physiotherapy and putting it down to an old injury or sleeping in a certain way.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>When physio didn’t resolve it, I sought a referral for an MRI. Again, I and all around me assumed it would relate to an old injury and nothing else was on our radar. The results of the MRI floored me. It showed a large tumour growing inside my spinal cord. This tumour was located at the top of my spine, just below my brain stem. An extremely rare type of tumour, in a precarious location for treatment or surgery. The tumour sat in what is described as the ‘prime real estate’ area of the spine and surgery was the only option to remove it. Without this surgery I would have been left in a wheelchair, with further degenerative impacts thereafter.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>As you can imagine as a young, fit woman, this was so difficult to process. What made it even harder was the fact that the medical consultations that followed presented life altering risks and scenarios. I was told it might be something I’d have live with and manage, that there was a high possibility that they couldn’t remove the tumour due to its location. The glimmer of hope I had rested with my surgical team. I was referred to the top neurosurgical team in the country in Beaumont Hospital. Given the risks associated with the surgery, this team were the only team that could take this on. My only hope.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>Within 5 weeks of diagnosis I underwent a gruelling, highly precise, 12 hour surgery. The outcome of which was nothing short of a miracle. A miracle I put down to the skills, experience, and dedication of my medical team (and prayers of many!).</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>T