When Lucy Lawlor was just five months old, her family faced the unimaginable. Born with a rare and still-undiagnosed form of craniosynostosis, the bones in her skull had fused too early, preventing her brain from growing. Without urgent surgery, she would not survive.
Today, Lucy is a thriving 12-year-old with an infectious smile, a love of Irish dancing and horse riding, and big dreams of one day working as a veterinary assistant.
“I love dancing,” Lucy says. “It makes me feel cheerful and bubbly.”
As she prepares for high school next year, she’s excited about catching the bus on her own, making new friends and landing a part-time job at an ice-cream shop.
“I wouldn’t be here right now without surgery, but I don’t think about the past. I just think about what will happen next.”
— Lucy
For Lucy’s mum, Edel, watching her daughter embrace life is nothing short of extraordinary.
“When she was born, we didn’t know if she was going to survive,” Edel recalls. “After the operation, we knew we had her forever.”
“I’m just so proud. She’s got no fear. She tries everything and just goes for it.”
Lucy underwent surgery with internationally renowned craniofacial surgeon Professor David David at Adelaide’s Australian Craniofacial Unit. While she will require further surgery once she is fully grown, she continues to flourish thanks to the care she received and the research that helped make it possible.
Professor David, who founded Adelaide’s world-renowned Australian Craniofacial Unit, says Firefly Children’s Foundation has played a critical role in advancing treatment for children such as Lucy.
In the 1990s, the Foundation funded research which helped specialists develop a way to accurately measure brain growth in babies with craniofacial conditions – groundbreaking work that continues to shape treatment and improve outcomes for children years later.
“The greatest pleasure I have on a day-to-day basis is meeting some of my patients who I first met when they were three or four months of age, you can’t imagine how good that is.”
— Professor David
For 50 years, Firefly Children’s Foundation has funded life-changing medical research that has transformed the lives of children across South Australia and beyond. Lucy’s story is just one example of the lasting impact that research can have, giving children not only the chance to survive but the opportunity to thrive.
Ambassador Rosanna Mangiarelli says Lucy’s story is a powerful reminder of what research can achieve.
“To see children like Lucy thrive because of research supported by Firefly is incredibly heartwarming, here is a young girl with a bright future ahead of her, and the confidence to embrace opportunities she may never have had without this life-changing research. That’s what makes Firefly so special. You’re not just helping children today – you’re helping create brighter futures for years to come.”
— Rosanna Mangiarelli
