Brendan co-founded Cliona’s Foundation with his wife Terry Ring after the death of his daughter Cliona from an inoperable brain tumour in 2006.
Cliona’s Foundation is a national charity with their head office located in Limerick. Cliona’s provide financial assistance directly to parents of children with life-limiting or chronic complex care needs across Ireland to help with the non-medical expenses related to caring for their child.
Over the years, as Cliona underwent numerous different hospital treatments, Brendan and Terry were struck by the number of families, facing enormous financial hardship, on the brink of financial free-fall, blindsided by non-medical expenses piling up. They saw at first-hand the enormous toll it took on these families, already struggling to cope with the nightmare of having a seriously ill child. They decided to take action and set up Cliona’s Foundation, in honour of their daughter, a charity that uniquely provides financial assistance to families with children who have life limiting conditions.
There are approximately 4000 families in Ireland who are caring for a child with a life limiting illness. Approximately 400 children will be newly diagnosed and another 400 will sadly succumb to their illness. It is a heartbreaking cycle. Cliona’s believe that no family should suffer financial hardship while caring for their sick child.
Since its launch, Cliona’s Foundation has raised in excess of €3.5 million and has supported over 1700 families across 31 Counties. It is Brendan, Terry and the team at Cliona’s intimate understanding of the stress brought upon these families that explains the diversity of expenses covered by Cliona’s Foundation – from rent, food, utility bills to transportation for chemotherapy or alternative therapies and even covering the cost of a child’s funeral.