RHONDA’S LIFE WITHOUT LIMITS! MAGHERAFELT MUM RHONDA O’NEILL DREAMED OF CONVERTING A CAMPER VAN AND TRAVELING ACROSS EUROPE – AND SHE DIDN’T LET A SERIOUS ILLNESS STAND IN HER WAY.
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iving with a debilitating illness isn’t easy as Rhonda O’Neill from Magherafelt knows only too well. Rhonda, a classroom assistant, suffers from a serious neurological condition called Autonomic Neuropathy which affects every single part of her body. She often spends time in hospital and most nights she can’t sleep properly because of the pain. However, she refuses to let her illness stand in her way and last summer embarked on an unusual project to distract her from her suffering. The mum-of-two decided to do a van conversion and create the campervan of her dreams. At times when she couldn’t sleep due to her illness, Rhonda got up and worked on her van – even planning the conversion from her hospital bed. She says she started her latest project to remind herself that no illness can define a person or limit their dreams. Rhonda, 47, a special needs classroom assistant at Kilronan School explains: “My condition is fuelled by very rare breast tumours. I have an ileostomy, catheters, a sacral nerve stimulator, gastroparesis, osteoporosis, blood pressure and heart problems as well as visual problems. “Everything that works automatically or autonomically for everyone else, doesn’t work for me. “In the future I will most likely need a second stoma and a feeding tube as my stomach is
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Local Women Magazine
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Rhonda O’Neill
paralysed. I have involuntary jerks when I fall asleep but awake violently sick every morning at 4am. But I will never let it slow me down or beat me.” Rhonda decided to buy a van which she nicknamed ‘Vanessa’ – but disaster struck the very next day when she was admitted to hospital. However, as Rhonda tells Local Women – nothing could stand in the way of her vanlife dream!
be enough to put most people off a major project! I Know! I was vomiting up blood, so I had to have an NJ tube and was in hospital for three weeks.While I lay in hospital, I did not dwell on the tubes, I sat from morning to night researching everything I needed to create my conversion. I researched, how to insulate her and ordered it online, I researched different lay outs and different interiors and I wanted her to be homely.The doctors came round every So, you bought a van – but the next day morning and were fascinated at my ideas were admitted to hospital. This would and asked for progress updates, nurses