Carlow family surprised with a Feel Good Friday on popular radio station in South East

A Carlow family got the surprise of their lives last Friday when they found out they were chosen for Feel Good Friday on Beat 102 103.

Katie Delaney from Graiguecullen was nominated by an old college friend, Peter, who saw the family’s life play out on social media over the past year.

In 2018, Katie and her partner Ciaran got the news that every parent dreads.

After one trip to St Luke’s Hospital in Kilkenny, five trips to University Hospital Waterford and seven journeys to Holles Street in Dublin, she found out her baby would need to fight hard to have a chance of making it into this world.

Katie’s daughter Evie was diagnosed with a Cystic Hygroma, a large fluid-filled sac on her face and neck, while in the womb.

Her friend Pete saw a post on Facebook that really struck a chord.

She ended it with, "For as much as she’s fighting, we’ll fight out here, I know my gut and at 28 weeks she didn’t deserve to battle this world just yet."

Evie was born on December 5 where 43 doctors and nurses worked on the procedure, and after 12 weeks she was brought home to Carlow.

Beat’s Shonagh Lyons and the crew travelled up to Carlow at the crack of dawn to land the surprise to an unsuspecting Ciaran and Katie.

Gaston the singing chef was on-site to help with the brekkie and prepare the family for the day ahead.

Katie’s special day continued then with a trip to Berlin Hair Lounger where she got her hair and makeup done to make her special day just a little bit better. Santa also paid an early visit to County Carlow, to surprise the entire family. 

Speaking about the day, Beat 102 103 CEO, Gabrielle Cummins, said: "This story really touched our hearts.

"Katie and her family were such deserving recipients of Food Good Friday. We were delighted to be able to treat such a lovely family and give them a special day on us."

Feel Good Friday runs on Beat 102 103 every Friday for the month of November.