'Staff at the hospital did everything they could to save Lucie..so I'm going to do all I can to help them' EXCLUSIVE Family loss that inspires Failte Towers John.Byline: BY MAEVE QUIGLEY WHEN RTE's John Creedon goes into Failte Towers tonight there'll be one special girl in his thoughts. The 49-year-old radio presenter lost his granddaughter Lucie in November when she was only eight weeks old. And even though he hates reality TV, John signed up to the celebrity charity show to raise money for Our Lady's Children's Hospital A children's hospital is a hospital which offers its services exclusively to children. The number of children's hospitals proliferated in the 20th century, as pediatric medical and surgical specialties separated from internal medicine and adult surgical specialties. to help other kids and their families. John said: "I actually didn't want to speak about Lucie in public but her mum and dad - my daughter Kate and son-in-law John - said that it was the right thing to do. We have a long history with the hospital. "Katie is 28 now but when she was a child she fell and ruptured rup·ture n. 1. a. The process or instance of breaking open or bursting. b. The state of being broken open. 2. A break in friendly relations. 3. Pathology a. her kidney so we spent a long, hot summer there. "We weren't to know that 20 years later we would be back again in the same hospital." Lucie was born prematurely and although she fought a brave battle she got an infection which claimed her life at just two months. He explained: "Lucie was our first grandchild and she will always be our eldest ELDEST. He or she who has the greatest age. 2. The laws of primogeniture are not in force in the United States; the eldest child of a family cannot, therefore, claim any right in consequence of being the eldest. grandchild. "We fell in love with her in the short weeks we had her with us. She was tiny but she was beautiful." John, Kate and the rest of the family spent the weeks at the Dublin hospital willing their little girl to live. John said: "We just felt like we were there on a river bank and she was on the other side trying to get to us. I used to speak to her and tell her, 'Keep coming, we're here, we're waiting for you'. "And it looked like she was going in the right direction but then she got an infection and she was gone." As an extremely private person, John didn't want to reveal his personal reasons for going into Failte Towers where 13 celebrities will be put through their paces running the business. He added: "Katie and John have been involved in fundraising for the hospital since then. So when I was asked to do Failte Towers it was Katie and my other three daughters who persuaded me to go in. "I warned them I would be asked about Lucie and I wasn't at all keen to talk about her. "But Katie said to me, 'Dad we've done our grieving grieving Mourning, see there in private - let's do the fundraising in public'. "Any time I drive past the hospital and see the parents I remember that hollow feeling where you are just powerless to help. "And there are the people - the doctors and nurses - pushing on that extra mile for you. "Anyone who has had a child in trouble will know how strong the need is to raise money and do something afterwards af·ter·ward also af·ter·wards adv. At a later time; subsequently. afterwards or afterward Adverb later [Old English æfterweard] Adv. 1. . "I can't remember what age Katie was when she was ill but we were so worried then. She's our eldest girl and she's always been a mini-mum to the others. "She's always had tremendous compassion and when she was ill we were worried sick too. "The staff at the hospital are so good and do everything they can so I felt doing Failte Towers would be a good way to help them." Yesterday John admitted he was worried when he saw swimming gear on the list of things to bring. He said: "I thought it would be good craic - there would be no swimwear section or maggot maggot: see blowfly; fly; larva. eating. "So I was a bit worried when I saw we had to bring our swimming gear - it will be like Homer Homer, principal figure of ancient Greek literature; the first European poet. Works, Life, and Legends Two epic poems are attributed to Homer, the Iliad and the Odyssey. Simpson in Speedos." FAILTE Towers begins on RTE (1) See runtime engine. (2) (Real-Time Executive) The operating system used in the HP 1000 series. See HP 1000. 1 tonight at 9.40pm CAPTION(S): DETERMINED John Creedon is inspired by his granddaughter; THREE STAR Michelle Heaton Michelle Christine Scott-Lee, née Heaton (born 19 July 1980, Gateshead, England) is an English pop singer, television personality and sometime glamour model. She is married to former boyband member Andy Scott-Lee, is the sister-in-law to former STEPS singer Lisa Scott-Lee and the , Claire Tully and Brian Dowling For the American football player, see . Brian Dowling (born 13 June 1978) was the winner of the second series of the British reality TV show Big Brother in 2001 and has since gone on to become a television presenter. ; DUST BUSTER Claire Tully polishes up her act in the hotel; ON THE PULL Tractor girls Liz O'Kane and Jennifer Maguire |
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