'Heartbroken' Meningitis vaccine fundraiser launched in Laois teenage girl's memory
Dublin city marathon fundraiser by cousin of beloved Abbeyleix teenager Emily Culhane
The cousin of a beloved Laois teenager who died from a rare strain of meningococcal B, is holding an online fundraiser for research into a vaccination.
Emily Ellen Culhane, aged 16, from Abbeyleix, was healthy and well and enjoying her Christmas holidays from Scoil Chriost Rí, Portlaoise when she suddenly fell ill then unconscious at home on January 2, 2025 and was rushed to Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise.
Three days later the beloved and musically talented teenager passed away in Beaumont Hospital from a strain of meningococcal B, to the shock and grief of her family, friends and community. She was the only daughter of Sean and Bernie Culhane and only sister to Sam.
Now her first cousin Sarah O’Brien has launched a fundraiser for research into a catch-up vaccine, while Sarah’s husband Mark trains to run the Dublin City Marathon in Emily’s memory. They are hoping to raise a modest €1,000 and are nearly halfway there. See link at end of story.
Sarah described her bubbly cousin to the Leinster Express / Laois Live.
“Emily was like a ball of energy. She was so talented, she could sing and dance better than anyone, that’s the thing, she was just such an ordinary teenager. She loved her friends, her family, her dogs, and dancing and singing was her life.
She was my first cousin, our mams are sisters. I live in Dublin and there’s a big age gap so we didn’t know each other very well but we could see how special she was.”
Sarah describes the shock of when Emily suddenly fell ill and was rushed to hospital.
“It came completely out of the blue. We know she had been out for dinner for her brother’s birthday on New Year’s Day and the next day, basically she was more or less brain dead.
“Nobody knew what had happened, she was taken to Beaumont, I asked had she hurt her head, nobody knew. We never suspected meningitis.
“She was on her Christmas holidays, it was just an ordinary day.”
Emily’s dad Seán had asked at her recent inquest for a catch-up MenB programme for anyone born between 2008 and 2016, to protect other vulnerable teenagers.
Children born after 2016 can get free vaccinations against meningitis. While the vaccine is available privately in Ireland for older children it costs about €300 and not everyone knows about it. It is free in the UK.
The family were told at the inquest that a free catch-up vaccine was ruled out earlier this year by the National Immunisation Advisory Committee, due to the rarity of the infection.
Since the inquest, Sarah said the family is “heartbroken”.
“It’s such a rare thing, I don’t think we can ever make sense of it. They want to try to prevent this happening to anyone else. It’s absolutely horrific.
“She was only 16. It was my cousin but it could have been anybody’s. It doesn’t discriminate,” she said.
Her husband Mark who will run the Dublin marathon actually works in Children’s Health Ireland.
“He was with the medical research team and they said that’s what the funding will go to. To develop a catch-up regime for Meningitis.
“He ran the marathon two years ago, but ever since the inquest, he felt he had to do something about this.
“He is training hard, he’s absolutely exhausted but he’s pushing through because he wants to do this,” Sarah said.
She is asking the Laois community to support their online fundraiser.
“You could see though Emily wasn’t in the school long, they did a guard of honour, they packed out the church, she meant a lot to so many people.
“I’m sure Laois is a very tight community. All the money will go straight into the medical research to develop a catch-up programme. Hopefully this never happens to anyone again,” she said.