Shauna McGann
10-year-old Shauna McGann lives life with No Limits – she rides horses!
Shauna McGann lives in Rathdrum, Co. Wicklow with her father, Dermot, and her mother, Sharon.
She was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when she was a year old. The doctors believed it was caused by a serious blood clot her mother experienced during pregnancy which cut off oxygen supply to her womb.
When Shauna was past her first birthday but still showed no interest in walking along with having difficulty moving her right hand, her parents sensed there was something wrong.
‘What are we supposed to do now?’
She began going to Enable Ireland in Bray and Arklow when she was 2 years old. Since then she has received physiotherapy and speech and language therapy.
Her dad, Dermot says that Enable Ireland’s support made life so much better and easier for the family: “When Shauna was first diagnosed we had no idea what cerebral palsy even was. It was so confusing and all we could think was ‘What are we supposed to do now?’”
“But Enable Ireland was always just a phone call away. Along with the physiotherapy and speech therapy, they were always more than happy to help us with any worries or questions we had. We could just call up or drop by at any time.”
Learning To Focus on the Things She Can Do
Her cerebral palsy affects the right hand side of Shauna’s body. So she has more difficulty than most children with writing, typing, gripping on to things and walking or running. To help her mobility, she has had splints and casts put on her leg from time to time.
In light of these challenges, her parents are very proud of how Shauna is coping. They feel she’s very mature for her age, perhaps because of the obstacles she has faced.
In the past, Shauna used to get a lot more frustrated but she’s learned to be patient with herself, accept her disability and focus on the things she can do rather than the things she can’t.
“A few years ago,” says her Dad, “she used to get much more upset. But she now accommodates her body much better and listens and learns from the staff at Enable Ireland. She’s like any normal kid – it doesn’t occur to her that she might not be able to do something. She just finds her own way of doing it instead.”
Finding a Way to Ride Horses!
Though Shauna has cerebral palsy, she has impressed everyone with her horse-riding ability! For the past 3 years, Shauna has been attending specially organised horse-riding lessons through Enable Ireland. She has found ways of holding the reins to suit herself and really loves her time riding.
“Shauna continually surprises us with all that she can do. We hope that people always see the person she is rather than her disability.”
