{"id":566049,"date":"2026-07-02T23:53:24","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T23:53:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/566049\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T23:53:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T23:53:24","slug":"feile-osullivan-one-year-on-west-cork-teenager-is-upbeat-and-all-set-to-return-to-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/566049\/","title":{"rendered":"F\u00e9ile O\u2019Sullivan: One year on, West Cork teenager is ‘upbeat and all set to return to school’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Marking one year since a devastating farm accident in West Cork<\/a> which led to her losing both her legs, an \u201cupbeat\u201d F\u00e9ile O\u2019Sullivan is preparing to return to school.<\/p>\n

Her future seemed uncertain but, following months of complex care<\/a> at CHI at Crumlin Hospital and the National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH), things are very different for the sports-mad 13-year-old.<\/p>\n

Her mother Maureen has been at her side, only taking short breaks to return home to Allihies for work.<\/p>\n

\u201cThings have really changed, she is unbelievable,\u201d Maureen said today, Thursday, as the anniversary came around.<\/p>\n

\"F\u00e9ileF\u00e9ile N\u00ed Sh\u00failleabh\u00e1in. Photo: Instagram@M\u00e1ir\u00edn N\u00ed Sh\u00failleabha\u00edn<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s just being a teenager, to be honest; she\u2019s upbeat and still extremely positive. She\u2019s looking forward to school in September.\u201d<\/p>\n

Videos of F\u00e9ile playing sports, especially GAA and horse-riding, had tugged at heartstrings when the accident happened.<\/p>\n

Now, as Maureen spoke, she kept one eye on F\u00e9ile racing the NRH corridors in her powered wheelchair with her friends. Maureen said:\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n She\u2019s been doing wheelchair rugby, basketball, boccia.\u00a0\n <\/p>\n

A prosthetic leg was recently added to her armory.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd actually she was doing table tennis the last day; she was standing up doing it. It was cool to see. She\u2019s doing basically anything that\u2019s available; she\u2019s going to try out some wheelchair hurling now as well,\u201d Maureen added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She was thrilled to tears to stand and hug her daughter, with no wires or chair between them.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s all set to go to school; she\u2019s been getting so much better since this day last year realistically,\u201d Maureen said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Grant applications have gone in for adaptations in the school.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the teenager has had \u201cmaybe 100\u201d complex surgeries involving dozens of healthcare workers with more scheduled to come later.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s looking forward to spending some time with her friends instead of being with them in a hospital,\u201d Maureen said.<\/p>\n

\"MaureenMaureen O’Sullivan with her daughter F\u00e9ile O’Sullivan. Picture provided to the ‘Irish Examiner’ by Maureen O’Sullivan.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s hoping to spend some real time with them now in August.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her dogs, including a new puppy, are another draw.<\/p>\n

The ‘phenomenal’ Stand 4 F\u00e9ile\u00a0<\/p>\n

A huge fundraising effort<\/a> called Stand 4 F\u00e9ile, which was led by her hometown, spread around the world last year, bringing financial and emotional support<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was phenomenal, there\u2019s community, and then there\u2019s that,\u201d Maureen said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"FirstFirst class pupils in Enniskeane, Darragh McCarthy, Joseph Ryan, and James Hayes, taking part in the jersey day in March as part of the Stand 4 F\u00e9ile fundraising drive. Picture: Andy Gibson<\/p>\n

A committee of four volunteers in the town started it off. This multiplied to cake sales, cycle races, vintage threshing, pub quizzes, bullock sales and more, as well as support from dozens of sports clubs.<\/p>\n

A quilt came from Butte, Montana, where Allihies ties lie deep thanks to decades of emigration to the mines there.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"CroninCronin Electrical and ASMS plumbing staff taking part in the jersey day in the Stand 4 F\u00e9ile fundraiser. Picture: Eddie O’Hare<\/p>\n

Foundations go down this month for a specially adapted house near the family farm, also supported.<\/p>\n

Independent councillor Finbarr Harrington estimated donations came to around \u20ac1m before a GoFundMe was replaced with a managed trust fund.<\/p>\n

The car Maureen drives from the NRH to Crumlin every weekend came from this too.<\/p>\n

The NRH closes to paediatric in-patients every weekend, she explained, so they transfer to CHI at Crumlin for tests and accommodation.<\/p>\n

Maureen pauses as she thinks about all of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s F\u00e9ile\u2019s birthday next week, and when you think this time last year we had a prayer service for her birthday,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She recalls watching a video of the singing, saying: “I had goosebumps from it, everyone there was just being so hopeful.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now watching F\u00e9ile play tag, she said: \u201cHer smile makes you forget everything else. It will be nice now to go back to Cork.\u201d<\/p>\n