Hayden McLafferty

My name is Hayden, I’m 17 and I live in Clondalkin. When I was a baby I cant remember that much but I had numerous surgeries to see whats goin on with my heart, couldn’t fix it. It’s a heart disease, they, the doctors and nurses tried to figure out what was going wrong when my heart got worse I would go to school and feel ill so I would just have to go to school ring my mom and go to the hospital every single time it happened. They done tests and all, got freddies into me, jabs, they tried to figure out what was wrong, they said that it was just a sick heart so I had to get ECGs everything but as soon as they put the tube on me it was fine. I mean I have been living with it for years now, so well its ok like I have the palliative care team in Harold’s Cross and Lauralynn to keep me healthy and all that.

For me palliative care is helpful because they are making me stay at home instead of going to the hospital every single day and so that’s ok I mean I’d rather stay here at home where I’m safe than going to the hospital. I mean I have my play station which I talk to my mates on the headset so its not all bad. Mostly everyday I play on my play station. I mostly play Batman, Fifa, WWE, other movies would be like Marvel and DC, Superheros and all that even monster movies like Predator, Aliens but I would have to say the games I play with my brother would be Minecraft and Fortnight.

Me and my brother Riley, we are 2 years and 11 months in age and we have a great bound. Its very strong, its growing but I’m taller, I don’t think I’m smarter, I mean he knows more stuff about Minecraft and Fortnight but I know more stuff about superheroes probably than him so kind of a tie.

My mom’s looking after me, she has always looked after me even when I was in hospital she is the one there. My dad would go home with my brother, Mom right beside me everyday, 24/7 cause my dad has to work so its just me, Mom and Riley and she is helping me at the moment with my balanced diet, cause if she wasn’t helping me I would be on the verge of getting diabetes at the moment that why I love her, she is the best.

Staying home with my family makes me happy knowing that I have a family here that loves me and that I don’t have to go to hospital. That the palliative care team can make me stay here at home, makes me happy. Im just a 17 year old from Dublin with a heart condition, with a brother, a mother and a father, that all love me .