Cork athlete with Parkinson's turns to TV series Big Life Fix for help

SPORT has always played a key role in Cork woman Mary Ita O’Connor’s life.

Then, at the age of 39, the athlete, who comes from Milford, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. 

She is desperate for something that will allow her to continue to run competitively, and hopes the answer will be found in the first episode of a new series of Big Life Fix on RTÉ on Wednesday, February 28 at 9.35pm.

In the series, Ireland’s leading inventors create ingenious solutions to everyday problems for extraordinary people, harnessing the power of science to create tailor-made inventions, from space satellites to life-saving medical devices and military hardware.

As well as Mary Ita, they also try to help Dáire Gorman, a 10-year-old boy from Monaghan born with Crommelin Syndrome, causing his arms and legs to be underdeveloped.

Also in the series, the inventors try to distract Theresa O’Rourke from her chronic pain and help three-year-old Evie Purdy, who is non-verbal, communicate with her parents. They also work with David Tarpey, of Oranmore, Galway, who is paralysed from the chest down after a farm accident, to sea swim with greater ease.