04/08/2025
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When Freya McLaughlin was a baby, her parents Tracey and Don McLaughlin noticed that she wasnโt developing in the usual way, and began to suspect something was wrong.
โThe doctors carried out tests on admitting Freya and discovered she had cancer,โ says Tracey. โWe were told it was a rare form of late stage cancer called ganglioneuroblastoma.โ
Tracey and Don refused to abandon hope of their daughter recovering, however. โWe went into survival mode and started thinking, โwhere do we go from here and how do we heal Freya?โ.โ
Just three weeks later, Freya underwent an eight-hour long operation in an effort to de-bulk the tumour. Although it was successful, the downside was that it affected Freyaโs nerves.
โSheโd had some mobility in her legs before the operation, but overnight it went completely,โ says Tracey. โ We were told she would never walk again."
The family saw a massive change in Freya, however, when she began equine assisted therapy at the age of nine at the Festina Lente equestrian and horticultural centre in Bray.
โAt first, two of us would have to hold her hands as she crossed the arena, and help her up on to her the horse, using blocks,โ says Tracey. โBut even after just two lessons, we saw an improvement. She took to it immediately. She wasnโt at all afraid but sheโs always been a spirited child.โ
Freya has seen unbelievable results from the therapy, which involves exercises carried out on the horse and riding on her own. โSheโs learnt how to ride in the exact way as an able bodied person, but according to her ability,โ explains Tracey
