24-hour lecture in aid of Baby Grace

By Mary McDonnell 

DCU lecturer, Brian Harney, delivered a 24-hour lecture in aid of ‘Baby Grace’ last Wednesday.
Grace is the daughter of a PDP student in the Business School, and is being treated for Hyperinsulinism at great Ormond Street Hospital, London.
Harvey said it was always his intention to do something like this for Baby Grace and said: “It is great that the DCU community is able to come together to assist her [Grace’s] family at this difficult time.”
The lecture started at 10am Wednesday and finished with a grand finale in QG13 where Harvey tried to make sense of ‘Critical Reflections on Business Education’ after 24 hours of being awake.
It was delivered by Harvey alone, and was based on content he teaches throughout the year. The theme was ‘Strategy, People and Advantage’.
He took a five minute break every hour and said staying coherent may be more difficult than staying awake, “but I’m sure some of my current students would say I’m never that coherent at the best of times”.
65 people signed up for various blocks, adding up to a total of 272 volunteered hours. So far, Harvey has raised just over €3,000 and he expects this to rise to €5,000.
Hyperinsulinism occurs in around 1/25,000 to 1/50,000 births and about 60% of babies with the condition develop Hypoglycaemia.
During digestion, food is broken down into glucose for the body to use as fuel. The pancreas releases insulin to help the body absorb the glucose and when glucose levels fall, so does insulin.
With Hyperinsulinism, the pancreas produces insulin non-stop because it does not recognise how much glucose is in the blood or a drop in blood sugar levels.
Hypoglycaemia is when the brain is deprived of necessary fuels such as glucose and has no energy to work.
Brain damage can occur in up to 50% of children with Hyperinsulinism if their condition is not recognised or if treatment fails.
Harvey said: “The lecture was a great success. It was a gruelling but most humbling experience and also a reminder of the strength of the DCU community.”

Visit www.sponsorship.ie to help Baby Grace.