{"id":52675,"date":"2025-08-08T10:35:19","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T10:35:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/52675\/"},"modified":"2025-08-08T10:35:19","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T10:35:19","slug":"relief-for-westmeath-family-as-hse-approves-drug-for-toby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/52675\/","title":{"rendered":"Relief for Westmeath family as HSE approves drug for Toby"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Young Westmeath boy Toby with his sister, Ivy.<\/p>\n

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Image 1 of 2
\n Lucy and Niall Gavin with Toby.<\/p>\n

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\n Young Westmeath boy Toby with his sister, Ivy.<\/p>\n

\n Published:
\n Thu 7 Aug 2025, 2:19 PM\n <\/p>\n

By Shane King<\/p>\n

Westmeath couple Lucy and Niall Gavin have received life-changing news that the HSE has approved reimbursement for Carbaglu, the vital medication their son Toby needs to survive.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am honestly overcome with emotion,\u201d Lucy said in a heartfelt message to supporters on Friday evening. \u201cI received correspondence from the PCRS this evening that Toby\u2019s application for Carbaglu has now been approved.\u201d<\/p>\n

The news marks a monumental victory in the Gavin family\u2019s ongoing battle to care for their little boy, who suffers from a rare metabolic condition that requires round-the-clock attention and specialist treatment. Without Carbaglu, Toby\u2019s condition placed him at severe risk, yet until now, the cost of the drug placed it out of reach.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis takes a massive weight off our shoulders,\u201d Lucy said. \u201cWe can now safely have our little boy at home.\u201d<\/p>\n

The family expressed deep gratitude to the community, whose support online helped amplify their story and push their case into the national spotlight. Their GoFundMe campaign has also received generous donations following the public appeal raising \u20ac30,000 as of Sunday evening last.<\/p>\n

While the approval of Carbaglu is a crucial milestone, Toby\u2019s health remains a concern.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have overcome one hurdle with this great news. Now we have to get Toby to Manchester or London for his clinical trial and liver transplant,\u201d Lucy said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe won\u2019t be able to do either of those without everyone\u2019s help on our GoFundMe. I can\u2019t thank people enough for the support and generosity shown to us so far. I could just cry. Even Toby is smiling!\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking this week, Westmeath TD Sorca Clarke said: \u201cClearly this young boy has a profound medical need and no family should be in the position whereby they need to call on TDs to intervene on their behalf for something that their own consultant had prescribed, had recommended, and had provided the family with to allow Toby to be able to come home from hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously I\u2019m delighted, genuinely, I am absolutely over the moon. He has an awful long road ahead of him, little Toby, but hopefully this is the first step.\u201d<\/p>\n

Minister Peter Burke had also had contact from Lucy, Toby\u2019s mother, and he been working on their behalf. He said: \u201cI am relived that common sense has prevailed and that Carbaglu has been approved for reimbursement. As a parent, I can\u2019t imagine the stress and anxious wait that Toby\u2019s parents had to endure. It\u2019s one of the great challenges of health policy accessing medicines to rare conditions and we need to keep making improvements in the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish Toby and his family the very best in the time ahead, we are all available to help.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Gavin family continues to raise funds to cover travel, accommodation, and medical expenses associated with the next phase of Toby\u2019s care abroad. The upcoming clinical trial and transplant offer hope for a more stable future for the toddler.<\/p>\n

Toby\u2019s fight is far from over, but this milestone, thanks to relentless parental advocacy and public compassion, he can finally receive the treatment he needs.<\/p>\n

Fundraiser in Clarkes<\/p>\n

Friends of the Gavin family are hosting a fundraising event on Friday, September 19 in Clarkes Bar, Mullingar.<\/p>\n

On the Facebook page they write: \u2018This event is an opportunity to come together with Lucy and Niall. On the night there will be live performances from talented local musicians, a raffle with a variety of exciting prizes generously donated by local businesses, and karaoke.\u2019<\/p>\n

Tickets (\u20ac10) are on sale via Eventbrite and at the door on the night.<\/p>\n

Those unable to attend but would still like to support the family can make contributions Eventbrite; search for \u2018Benefit night for Toby Gavin\u2019.<\/p>\n

\n Published:
\n Thu 7 Aug 2025, 2:19 PM\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Young Westmeath boy Toby with his sister, Ivy. Previous Next Image 1 of 2 Lucy and Niall Gavin…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52676,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[64,63,137,490],"class_list":{"0":"post-52675","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-medication"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52675","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52675"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52675\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}