Thank you so much to the Galway Advertiser publishing this story I wrote about my amazing Nana,she is strong woman who went through so much in her life and I couldn't be more proud to be her granddaughter: it was an honor to share your story 💜
Page 24!
I don't normally post photos of my family on any of my public accounts but I wanted to share a photo of the greatest person I know, my 92 year old Nana, she's an amazing women and she's in great form and loves telling me stories about her life as an Irish Traveller, I'm blessed
After waiting all day for the phone call I am finally headed up to Tallaght University Hospital. My surgery is at 7:30am in the morning so I appreciate it if you all could keep me in your prayers for the next few days 🤍
Why Try? -Emma Ward
Imagine being born with a genetic condition and needing a bone marrow transplant at only 9 months, only for your parents to be told by some people and etc that you'll never amount to anything in life and will end up in a wheelchair in the future, so why even
Sorry for the rant on this picture but I want to be honest online Thank you so much Martin for taking this photo of me; I know I was nervous for the photoshoot because of my wheelchair (I don't see people like me in papers) but I really enjoyed myself more than I thought I would
I don't normally do this, I normally just post about what I've written and about Irish Traveller and disability activism but you only live once so here goes ✨
The Late Late Show Toy Show audience applications have just opened and I've applied (probably won't get them) and I've
I apologize for a long post but as part of
#IrishTravellerPrideWeek2023
I wanted to share about the 3 women in my life that make me so proud of being an Irish Traveller women and proud of my heritage: You all know about my Nana and her life story and how incredibly proud I am of
I have just received the best news this morning, after waiting 10 years my hip replacement surgery is scheduled for the 1st of December 🥹, it cannot come fast enough so I can finally have a pain-free life 😭
Thank you God 🙏🏼
To say this girl is an amazing activist for the Irish Traveller community would be an understatement, shes doing so many amazing things and I know she'll go very far in her life!
Proud to call her a friend and to be able to watch what she does 🫶🏼🫶🏼
You should be so proud of
Being first member of my family to graduate secondary school was my highlight of my year so far
Through my secondary school years and before there was times I never thought it was possible with mental health,sickness,domestic abuse and the statistics I was born into,but I did it
Two years since I graduated from secondary school so I thought I would share some photos from it, I am the only person in my family to complete the Leaving Cert and to graduate from secondary school so it was a huge achievement not just for me but for my parents and my siblings
As its
#MakeWayDay23
I thought I'd share this post again, even after 5 months its still annoying me 🫠
People with disabilities especially wheelchair and mobility aid users shouldn't have to struggle so much to go around their towns 😞😞
Thank you so much to
@sineadb_rte
for interviewing me, I couldn't be more grateful for the opportunity to share my experiences with being an Irish Traveller and a wheelchair user too, it was a lovely experience that I still can't believe I've gotten to do 🙈
"I want someone to look at what I’m doing and say ‘if she can do it, maybe I can too'."
Emma is a young Traveller and wheelchair user. She also is determined to break barriers.
This is what visibility means to younger Travellers.Imagine in 10 years time,when younger Travellers have even better people to inspire them than me.That change is coming,and like I've always said,it will be through the education of our youth.
@NUIGAccess
I hope she's accepted❤
Twitter just deleted this post so I have to upload again.
Update about Hip Surgery! ✨
I just want to say a massive thank you to everyone for all the well wishes, prayers and positive vibes throughout this weekend, I'm happy to say my surgery was a success and I was able to walk
Today marks 20 years since my bone marrow transplant, and I am so grateful to the person who donated their baby's umbilical cord; it saved my life and allowed me to enjoy it to the fullest. Since then, I've come a very long way, and I'm proud of myself for not letting my
Happy International Wheelchair Day and Irish Traveller Ethnicity Day 2023 💜
I am extremely proud to be an Irish Traveller and a wheelchair user, being a part of both communities has given me so much strength and confidence and I hope I can keep helping to make the future better
It's been a year since I posted the first ever picture in my chair that I actually liked and I'm proud of the progress I've made to feel more confident in pictures in my chair but this might be my new favorite photo of myself 🥰❤
(My phone is acting up and it deleted the original post so I had to post it again)
Tomorrow is the start of Disability
Pride Month and this is my first year to properly celebrate it but to start off on a good and short note I made this collage
of different times during my
A nice way to end the year, I still can't believe they chose me if I'm being honest 🥺💜, this has got to be of my proudest moments of the year, I was delighted to be the cover of
@VoiceTraveller
magazine and to share my views and opinions on so many things especially about
Never really post about my family but this is the little boy who is part of the reason of why I do so much disability activism and why I fight for the changes that are desperately needed to make this country and society more inclusive and accessible for everyone, my nephew
Feeling super proud that I got my first publication on the
@IrishTimes
about getting my first power chair. 🥺❤
Thank you so much
@PatrickFreyne1
for the support and advice I seriously appreciate it and I can't wait to write more with your guidance in a couple weeks. Thank you
Not the best video I've made but that's because I'm so frustrated. The IWA strike is happening next week and when it does I will be losing my Personal Assistant and will be losing out on my independence (which I think I more than deserve) and I'm going to lose out on possible
This is the most personal story I have ever written about how my life was growing up with a disability and how not having my hip replacement and waiting 10 years for it has impacted my life
I hope you all enjoy reading my genuine thoughts and feelings about life ❤
This year I was the PRO of Minceirs Whiden Society and as they won the best Society and was the first ever Irish Traveller society to win at the BICS annual awards I wrote this press release,it was published by
@CTribune
I couldn't be more proud! I am just a newbie journalist 🙈
The very exciting thing that I spoke about a little a few days ago is happening tomorrow is that I am speaking in the Seanad about my experiences of being a disabled Irish Traveller activist, I will be speaking on how there is such a lack of disability representation in the Irish
Today is the start
#IrishTravellerPride2024
! I hope all who celebrate have a lovely 2 weeks enjoying our culture ❤
Here is a photo of me in my wheelchair, I am proud to be a disabled Irish Traveller woman, what I'm not proud of is how I am constantly being told that I don't look
For another
#IrishTravellerPrideWeek2023
post I wanted to talk about a few Irish Travellers that I'm so grateful to know; Eileen Flynn, Martin Beanz Warde and Rosemarie Maughan.
I met Eileen for the first time in March 2022, and I honestly didn't know what to expect from her;
An amazing day getting to speak in the Seaned Eireann about the issues I face as a disabled Irish Traveller and to get listen to other Irish Traveller activists and to meet so many amazing people, I left the Dáil feeling very empowered and more determined to make those important
As a wheelchair user this was very upsetting to hear ☹️ wheelchair users are humans too and don't deserve to have that type of ableism tolerated, just because I use a wheelchair, it doesn't mean that I shouldn't want to live to 100, I want to live as long as I can and do as much
Kathryn Thomas on
@TheHardShoulder
today at 11:54 Kathryn states “𝗗𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗵𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗲𝗹𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗿”.
Well actually yes we do.
This is a terrible analogy by
@gokathrynthomas
to use on national
Hi
@TicketmasterIre
,I am a wheelchair user i bought a ticket for shania twain on the 28th of June, I had to buy a general ticket as the accessible ones weren't available but I have just checked and there is accessible ones available so I was wondering would it be possible to
First exciting thing of the week 👩🏼🦽, I finally got my new manual wheelchair today, I was having multiple problems with my old one (which I had for almost 5 years) so I am delighted I have gotten this, so far I have noticed how easy it is for me to push which is a big thing for my
I am resharing this for
#IrishTravellerPrideWeek2024
because as far as my knowledge goes, my Grandmother is the oldest living Irish Traveller woman, (please do correct me if I am wrong) and this story about her life will always be my proudest achievement because I was able to
Thank you so much to the Galway Advertiser publishing this story I wrote about my amazing Nana,she is strong woman who went through so much in her life and I couldn't be more proud to be her granddaughter: it was an honor to share your story 💜
Page 24!
Happy International Wheelchair Day and Irish Traveller Ethnicity Day, I'm proud to be both an Irish Traveller woman and a wheelchair user, being a wheelchair user especially because it gives me my independence, freedom, courage and stubbornness to overcome the challenges I face
Hi everyone, Emma has just come back up from surgery and she will be back online by Tuesday to update you all on how her surgery went
We thank you for all the prayers and positive vibes, please keep them coming over the next few days
An update on this, both
@TicketmasterIre
and
@mcd_productions
were very helpful, unfortunately the accessible tickets sold out but they came up with a solution and I now have the access that I was looking to get, thank you so much to the both companies for helping me, I can't
Hi
@TicketmasterIre
,I am a wheelchair user i bought a ticket for shania twain on the 28th of June, I had to buy a general ticket as the accessible ones weren't available but I have just checked and there is accessible ones available so I was wondering would it be possible to
I'm looking to speak with people with disabilities in Ireland about the accessibility in Ireland (whether its good or bad) for a possible story, my dms are open and my email is on my link tree in my bio 💜
#journorequest
I had the absolute honor in meeting Senator Eileen Flynn in March (I didn't realize my my tweet didn't post when I originally did it 🙈), it was lovely speaking with you!
@Love1solidarity
|Disclaimer, this is my genuine opinion, I wrote this while on hip rest during the week. I'm getting fed up with how long it takes to have changes in this country even though I know they're coming but its a long and very slow road to them important changes|
Today I had my first power chair lesson and going through Athenry town has yet again reminded me how inaccessible and dangerous the roads and footpaths are. One of my OTs is based in Galway was quite shocked with how inaccessible the town is but to me it was no surprise because I
So this is a little introduction to me, I realised I hadn't really done one in over a year and I have gained a lot of followers in that year, so I wanted to just share what some of my goals are for this year and a few more facts about me is I am a big book lover and I love music
Newest story published with
@galwayad
, this one is particularly important to me because I wrote about how the
@IrishWheelchair
indefinite strike will affect my life, so if you could share it would be appreciated!
I must repeat myself and say how important it is to try and stop
Third attempt to post this (please work 🙏🏼)
I know I said I wouldn't be doing any more long written posts until January but today is a special day for me in a way so I thought I would share it and my thoughts about it with you lovely people ✨
Today is 9 years since my last
I am very excited to announce that me and my very good friend
@LatishaMc2004
are bringing out a podcast with
@spunout
, we have been working hard on this for a while and can't wait for you all to listen to the first episode coming very soon! 💙🩵
If you are on Instagram please
Great to start feeling like myself and getting back to normality after my hip replacement surgery 💜🙌🏼
I just wanted to say thank you again to everyone who sent me best wishes, positive vibes and added me in their prayers I really appreciate it and I won't ever forget that
I saw my first ever play this evening
#TheDeadHouse
in the
@AnTaibhdhearc
(which was very accessible, I had no problems at all, which made the experience even better), it was a mesmerizing show and I genuinely really enjoyed it
A very well done to you
@martinbeanz
, it was just
Its absolute heartbreaking watching
#Patrick
on RTE1, I strongly urge everyone to watch it, Patrick and his family are in my prayers ❤🙏🏼
God rest your soul Patrick, may you rest in peace 😇❤
Thank you so much to
@itmtrav
and the lovely Rosemarie
@Minceirbeoir
for inviting me to be a panelist at this
#travellerprideweek2023
event; this was my first ever Traveller Pride Event and I had a lovely time being able to freely share my experiences as a proud Irish Traveller
The one thing about myself that I kinda hate is I don't take enough credit or acknowledge that I'm actually proud of myself for things I've done in the last year and half but I am and I'm grateful to every person who has given me an opportunity to share my story and to the people
I normally don't ever do this but I have a really big hospital appointment tomorrow to speak about me having a hip replacement after waiting nearly 8 years for one (I hope it goes ahead) I would appreciate it if you would say a prayer that the outcome is a positive one 🤞🏼 💜💜
Happy birthday to this amazing women who I am so grateful to know and call a friend, genuinely one of the best people I have ever met and one of my role models who inspires me all the time in my own activism, I hope you have a lovely day Rosemarie, you're one in a million 🥰❤
I'm very excited to announce that I am co-hosting a podcast with a very good friend of mine
@LatishaMc2004
We have started recording our podcast Minceirs: Paving The Way last Friday and are looking forward to it being released next year 🫶🏼
4 Weeks Post Op Update!
Heres a bit of a long post of life updates and gratitude ✨
I am 4 weeks post op and I can happily report that since having my surgery I have reached my goal of not having an ounce of pain, I have obvious soreness from surgery but that was to be expected
14 years ago today I had the first surgery of many which gave me a better and more comfortable life. I can still remember that day like it was yesterday, I had the first spinal surgery to fix my scoliosis a month later, I have never forgotten what I went through with those
This picture represents how I felt on Wednesday when I went into the Eyre Square shopping centre in Galway and the lift to the stores was broken and I have since learned its been broken for the last couple weeks 😩, I had to go the long way around Eyre Square to get to Starbucks
I got to see my favourite person in the world today! I wasn't able to see my nana for 10 weeks because of surgery so my biggest goal aside from doing small steps was to build up enough strength to walk enough to see my Nana and I did 😭😭, we were delighted to see each other,
So I never really post reviews here and I want to change that so this is a video of a review I did of the accessible shopping trolleys in
#aldi
in Athenry, it was genuinely so easy to use and it was weightless to guide through the shop. I can confirm that this is the only shop in
This is just a very excited and proud aunty post, my nephew Patrick was on the
@TG4TV
news tonight because his school held a St Patrick's parade 🥰💚☘, I couldn't be prouder to see him happy enjoying the parade 💚
June is
#scoliosisawarenessmonth
and I'm proud to be a person living with scoliosis, I had my first spinal surgery when I was 7 years old until I was 12 and I can still remember everything, when you go through spinal surgeries its not something you'd forget easily and I'm proud
Very last attempt so I apologise for the constant posts about the Toy Show 🙈
I applied for The Late Late Show Toy Show audience tickets(probably won't get them) and I've applied every year since I was 15 (i didn't know at the time you had to be 18 to attend) and I actually got
WIN 2 tickets to
@PatricKielty
's FIRST EVER TOY SHOW!! 😍
To join us for the biggest show of the year on Friday Nov 24th you gotta...
RT this & head over to our Instagram...
#latelate
#latelatetoyshow
I like sharing about my life so this is a new milstone for me, my first powerchair which is unlocking a little more independence for myself once I have my hip replacement 👩🏼🦼✨
I know Rare Diseases Day (I hate the word disease because thats not what we have its a genetic blood condition) isn't until next week and I was thinking of posting this photo then but I honestly couldn't resist posting it now! This is my nephew Patrick, I have spoken a little
This is heartbreaking to watch because as a person who has scoliosis and was lucky enough to have the necessary surgeries done when I was very young I know a little about the pain they're going through, its the type of pain a person will never forget.
This little girl and every
“Love her the way we love her and give her the quality of life she deserves”
Catherine Stuart’s message to government as her daughter Kylie Anne awaits surgery.
#TonightVMTV
On the eve of
#RareDiseaseDay2024
I want to share more of my story and to raise more awareness of my medical condition "Mucopolysarcharidosis type I (MPS1)" which would be more commonly known as Hurler Syndrome which is a rare disease (it occurs in 1 in every 100,000 babies),
I have a very exciting week ahead, doing something that I could have only dreamed about doing a few months ago (may not seem like a big deal to you but when you come from a very small town in Galway and didn't have a lot of connections, when opportunities come it is a big deal),
So so proud Leesa!!! You're going to be an amazing teacher and influence on the next generation, those kids will be so lucky to be taught by you and to know from young ages that a disability doesn't define a person! 💜🫶🏼
First wheelchair user graduates as a primary teacher from MU
Disability advocate, Leesa Flynn, has become the first wheelchair user to receive a Master of Education degree from Maynooth University. 👏
#graduations
#MaynoothUni
#MUclassof2023
Its my best friends birthday tomorrow! Happy 93rd birthday Nana, its becuase of her that you all know about my writing because I decided to write about the most important and amazing person I know and that has gotten me so many amazing opportunities ✨
I am very grateful to know
As part of
#DisabilityPrideMonth
I wanted to speak about what I think are a few positives of having a disability.
I have found a community of
amazing people that know/have gone
through similar experiences to me
which I would've never found if I didn't have a disability and also
Since it is International Day of Persons with Disabilities, I thought I would take this as an opportunity to just talk about proud I am of having a disability and how I am very proud to be a wheelchair user.
I was born with a disability so I've never known any difference of not
I have debated about posting this because I don't know if I'm the right person to talk about the scoliosis surgery waiting lists but I feel like I do need to say something because its not fair on the people who are affected by this. I just took my camera and splurged my thoughts
Happy birthday Martin! Thank you for all the continued support in my work, very grateful to be able to work alongside you. I hope you have a great day! See ya soon ☺💙
@martinbeanz
Getting ready to go through another big challenge and change of my life, so I thought I would share it with you people 🤍, I'm looking forward to seeing how my life will change for the better once I have recovered 🤍
I hope you all enjoy reading my thoughts on the upcoming
I don't have a lot of followers on Youtube so I thought I would share it here (I will share the link to YouTube if you'd like to subscribe to me, it would be really appreciated 🤍)
I am at day 12 post op and feeling well so I thought I would record a video to get back into the
Hello everyone. I am looking to build up my writing portfolio, I do freelance work mainly with the Galway Advertiser (but I do look to get published in bigger newspapers as well) but I had to take a break from writing at the end of December until a few weeks ago due to having
First writers festival ✔
I had an amazing day at the
@Writingandideas
festival as a panelist alongside
@martinbeanz
, speaking to both
@naoisen
and
@PatrickFreyne1
about our journeys into the media world and how my mentorship with the great Patrick is going (it was great to
@PatricKielty
You did amazingly Patrick! I seriously enjoyed the toy show last night, it helped me forget about my hip pain for a while so thank you so much ❤
Thank you so much
@martinbeanz
for an amazing evening, the photos turned out amazing, I really appreciate you giving me this brilliant opportunity 😁
I really enjoyed myself throughout the whole project.
It was lovely to meet everyone who was involved in the project 💜
Feel like an adult now that I casted my vote. I voted for the people I believe have people with disabilities in mind, I just hope if they get elected they will actually make my town and county better with the help of those with lived experiences of poor accessibility because
Over the last few weeks I have been asked a few times what got me into activism and it made me realise that I have never said what has actually gotten me into activism so heres a post where I tell you a little about what got me to where I am today with activism.
I have always
Not everyday you see yourself in the
@galwayad
when its usually just your writing that appears in it 🙈😅 but my cousin did this for my 21st which is Saturday 🤍
Look forward to the upcoming photo dump I'll be doing about it (I apologize in advance haha) ✨
I would like to preface this as I am not looking for pity or sympathy, I just thought I would share this video here as well as I don’t have many followers on YouTube and I would like this to be seen as much as possible as, it might help another person who is in a similar
I'm trying to be a content creator so please be nice
🥰💜
I had a great time being an audience member for the
@latelaterte
, its an experience I will never forget, I can't wait for the next trip to
@rtenews
😏💜
Great to see
@LatishaMc2004
today to record more episodes for our upcoming podcast
#minceirspavingtheway
, we are very excited for you all to listen to the episodes which should be coming soon 🥰💙
I went to check out phones today and the whole time I was at the shop the worker wasn’t looking or talking to me, they spoke to my mom who was only there to help me get into the store, I am capable of getting my own phone so it was annoying 🫠,think it was very ableist of them 🥲
Very excited that the first episode of mine and
@LatishaMc2004
podcast is now available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Audible, we hope you all enjoy it 💙🫶🏻
Thank you
@spunout
for this incredible opportunity 💙
Its when events like these happen that I really pinch myself and realize that I'm doing something I really love and its not a dream 🥹🙈 I'm so grateful for every opportunity I get and I'm so grateful for the people who help and support me along the way to help in my journalism
@RTELateLateShow
@PatricKielty
Brilliant
Consider this my last attempt at tickets (I've been trying since the 13th of October)
So here goes
I applied for The Late Late Show Toy Show audience tickets(probably won't get them) and I've applied every year since I was 15 (i didn't know at the time you had to be
I have to reshare this video and reiterate how important it is for
@LeoVaradkar
and to step in and stop the
@IrishWheelchair
strike. This strike will have a seriously negative impact on every single person who uses the services
@IrishWheelchair
provides and especially those who
Not the best video I've made but that's because I'm so frustrated. The IWA strike is happening next week and when it does I will be losing my Personal Assistant and will be losing out on my independence (which I think I more than deserve) and I'm going to lose out on possible
Best of luck to everyone going out to protest ✊🏼, the mental health crisis within my community has gone from bad to worse through the years to the point that young children who are being subjected to constant bullying are killing themselves because they feel they have no choice
Traveller Mental Health is a Human Right.
Join us this Tuesday 5th of December
@12pm
outside the Dail to call on Government to Implement the National Traveller Mental Health Strategy in program for government.
#HumanRights
#MentalHealth
#Travellers
I am very happy to say that I have been selected as a
@JSchofieldTrust
fellow for 2023 to say I'm excited would be an understatement 😊🙈, thank you so much for the opportunity, 2023 is going to be a great year 💜💜