A GoFundMe campaign in Skibbereen has been likened to a modern-day village – the kind it takes to raise a child.

The analogy was used to describe the fact that 500 people have rallied around and made donations to help a four-year-old boy, Matthew, and his parents, Dáire and Gina Lynch.

More than €25,000 has been raised so far to help in the care of Matthew, who became critically ill on the night of April 21st last.

Dáire and Gina​ appreciate the swift response of SouthDoc and the care their son received at Cork University Hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery.

Matthew’s situation turned out to be more complex and that led to him being transferred, last week, to Children’s Health Ireland at Temple Street in Dublin, where he underwent another intensive procedure.

On Tuesday, Dáire and Gina confirmed that Matthew is making progress. They said he has started taking food, and physiotherapy will begin as soon as his post-surgical pain subsides.

Dáire and Gina, two artists who relocated from Galway to West Cork after Covid, are relieved that their son is now able to sleep because it is enabling him to properly​ rest and recover.

They thanked ‘the entire team of Temple Street – from catering and sanitation all the way up to the nurses, doctors and surgeons – all of whom have been amazing.’

The couple described as ‘reassuring’ the care and respect that Matthew, and they, are receiving. And they say they are overwhelmed by the generous response to the GoFundMe campaign.

It was a parent of one of Matthew’s pre-school friends, Lauren Howitt, who established the ‘Matthews Long Road to Recovery’ fund.

Having dealt with a medical emergency involving her own child a few years ago, Lauren said she knew the self-employed couple would be under immense pressure because the stress of the situation can be as dense as a fog.

The fund was started as a way for Dáire and Gina’s friends and local community to show their support for Matthew​, but it has gained traction with a wider community online.

So far, hundreds of people have made donations to the fund, which includes the backing of all of their friends at the weekly Skibbereen Market, where Gina has a stall.

Lauren said: ‘Dáire and Gina are a kind, loving couple who need our help. By donating to the fund, we can help them spend time focusing on Matthew’s recovery.

‘In some ways,’ Lauren said, ‘the traditional village – the one it takes to raise a child – has disappeared​, but it’s nice to see that the village is still there through GoFundMe.’

Check out their GoFundMe here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/Matthews-long-road-to-recovery