Children’s £2,000,000 MRI Scanner Appeal
Dame Mary Peters and the Right Hon. Lord Mayor Pat Convery, join Mark Agnew and his children Samuel and Annie at the launch of the Children's MRI Scanner Appeal in June. Samuel has a heart condition and had to travel to Dublin twice for an MRI Scan. .
Children's Heartbeat Trust is partnering with three other local children's charities; Helping Hand, Carrickmannon MRI Scanner Children's Appeal and the Northern Ireland Children's Cancer Unit Fund, in a £2,000,000 appeal for a dedicated children’s MRI Scanner for the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children.
The Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children is the only children’s hospital in the UK not to have an MRI Scanner. This means that children in Northern Ireland may have to undergo treatments involving radiation or invasive procedures instead of benefitting from a safe and repeatable MRI scan. Some children even have to travel outside of Northern Ireland to receive a scan.
The provision of an MRI Scanner at the Children’s hospital will have great benefits for all sick children and young people suffering in Northern Ireland, providing diagnosis and treatment of many different types of diseases – from disorders of the brain, heart and kidneys to the diagnosis of cancer, bone and joint diseases to detecting broken limbs and bones.
In relation to children with heart disease, being able to have an MRI Scan at RBHSC will have a very real and positive impact on their treatment. Dr Brian Grant, consultant paediatric cardiologist with Clark Clinic agrees;
“Cardiac MRI can provide important additional information, is safe and non-invasive. This means that we can safely repeat this test a large number of times over many years in the same patient, if necessary. Cardiac MRI will play an integral in the management of children and adults with congenital heart disease. This is especially true of those children with very complex heart problems.”
To help us raise these essential funds please visit www.mriscannerappeal.org or contact Sarah on 07584 164 815/ sarah@childrensheartbeattrust.org