The parents of a 20 month old child, who was born with an unknown genetic defect and who was born blind, have recently raised £2,000 for hospital equipment following a charity quiz night.

Damien Lynch and Teresa Magee, the parents of little Shayne Magee, used the money to purchase two saturation monitors and sensory toys for the Erne Children's Ward.

Damien explained that Shayne was born in the Erne Hospital and that, initially, he was allowed to go home.

But, when he was nine months old he went back to the hospital and little baby Shayne spent the next year in hospital.

Shayne attended the Royal Hospital for Sick Children on four occasions for major operations and was returned to the Erne in the intervening time for care.

"Every time they thought they had it sorted out", Damien explained, "something else cropped up. For instance, Shayne has had a tracheostomy installed and a gastro tube inserted into his stomach.

Shayne is now doing well, but he requires the constant care of two people.

The couple get help from 'Care Plus', with care workers calling into them a couple of hours a day, but the rest of the time they look after him, a situation which means neither of them is able to work at the moment.

Shayne currently needs full-time care, but hopefully when he has his tracheostomy out, he won't need as much care.

To say 'thank you' for all the care Shayne received, Damien and Teresa held a quiz night along with a raffle in Coa Hall to raise funds for medical equipment.

Through the 'Herald', Damien expressed thanks to Tony and Colette Harte and, also, to Brendan Donnelly who organised the quiz.

Thanks also go to all who donated prizes for the raffle and to all the couple's family, friends and wider community who helped make the night such a success.

Teresa and Damien would also like to thank all the staff of the Children's Ward at the Erne Hospital for all their care for Shayne and for the support they have given to the young couple over the past 20 months.