A lifetime of pain

1895

In 1895, three-year-old Eileen O’Connor and her younger sister Mary are being pushed in a pram. There is an accident and both girls tumble out. Two years later, Eileen is diagnosed with a fractured spine. While the accident was thought to be the cause of Eileen’s lifelong handicap, it is now understood that from an early age, Eileen suffered from the effects of T.B.Potts Disease.  She then developed transverse myelitis (an agonising inflammation of the spinal cord), both illnesses caused her to develop a severe curvature of the spine. She lived her life in constant pain and was paralysed for several years from the condition. Despite multiple operations, Eileen endured extreme pain throughout her short life. This image shows Mrs Annie O’Connor with her two daughters, Eileen and Mary, outside their home, ‘Kinsale’, in Burnley, Victoria.