The story of the last five years has been the struggle for Meagan Camper, the 16-year-old from Ballyshannon, Co Limerick, to get a place to stay.
Last year, Meagan was diagnosed with cancer and after a few months off school, she was given permission to move in with her mother and a local couple.
The following summer, Meghan’s mother and her boyfriend moved into a house in Meagachan.
“I just wanted to be with my mum and get away from it all,” she says.
Meagan says she was nervous about staying at the family home.
“It was very uncomfortable,” she remembers.
“They didn’t have any privacy, I was just in a house with my dad and mum.”
It was not until March that she was allowed to leave Meagan alone.
“That was the hardest part, to leave your mum alone,” Meagan said.
“There was no conversation. “
There was nothing. “
There was no conversation.
There was nothing.
It was just me.
And that’s when things started to go downhill.”
Last month, Meaghan was taken into a hospital for an MRI scan.
She says she didn’t know if it was cancer, but she was told to expect it in six weeks.
Meghan is still struggling to deal with the diagnosis and the uncertainty over whether or not she will be able to stay with her family.
“My mum’s cancer has gone and I’m just really worried about my future,” she said.
Meaghan is the fourth teenager to be taken into hospital by Meagan.
The youngest is 17-year of age.
Megan and her family have been staying at a temporary hostel in the city for the last few months.
“We don’t have a permanent home,” Megan said.
While the family have a new home and a job, Megan has been struggling with depression.
“Just going back home and getting the support I need, just to be able, to be alone,” she added.
Meagher’s parents have told her that it would be impossible for her to move back in with them.
“Even though we’re not really close to our family, they just don’t want to see me move back home,” she explained.
Meagans father, Tom, says he doesn’t have the funds to move out of the family house, and that Meagan has been in the hospital for over a week.
“What can we do?”
Meagan asked.
“If we can just get someone to take care of us.”
Meagan wants to go back to school and study journalism.
“When I’m going to school, I want to do my best, but I don’t know how to do that,” Meghan said.
I want the support of my family, I don.
It’s really hard.
She wants to be back in school.
“In the end, it’s just about me,” she continued.
It is hard. “
But it’s hard.
It is hard.
I can’t really put into words how hard it is for me to be at that point.”
Meaghan Camper and her friends were able to secure a house to live in in the town, but her father says it would have been impossible for them to keep it together.
You’ve just got to leave it all behind.” “
You’ve got to live with them for a long time and then they start to leave and then it’s over.
You’ve just got to leave it all behind.”
Meghan says her parents are worried about her mental health and are trying to help her, but they say she has a long way to go.
“At the moment, I just need a little bit more,” she explains.
Megyn says that the last thing she wants is for Meagagan to go through the same experience that she has.
“Meagan is a very brave girl,” Megyn said.
