Harney pledge to paralysed mother

HEALTH Minister Mary Harney has said the State will do everything possible to help a paralysed mother forced to travel abroad for treatment.

Mary Harney gave the commitment to the father of Cork woman Catherine O’Leary during a private meeting at Cork University Hospital (CUH).

Catherine, 31, from Ballincollig in Co Cork, have been confined to a high-dependency bed in CUH since February, when she was left paralysed after surgery to remove a brain tumour. She suffered “locked-in syndrome”, which left her fully alert, awake and aware of what is going on around her, but unable to move or speak.