British hospital comes to aid of paralysed woman

A SPECIALIST hospital in Britain has come to the assistance of a woman with a rare syndrome, which renders her alert but unable to speak or move as a shortage of beds continues to delay in her treatment here.

Catherine O’Leary, 31, of Ballincollig, Co Cork, was left bitterly disappointed last week after she was informed that a planned move to the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dún Laoghaire had been further delayed by a minimum of two months.

Mother-of-one Catherine suffered two strokes during brain surgery in February.

Since then she has been diagnosed with Locked In Syndrome, a condition in which a patient is aware and awake, but cannot move or communicate due to complete paralysis of nearly all the voluntary muscles in the body.

When Catherine was first diagnosed at Cork University Hospital (CUH), doctors said she would require specialist rehabilitation care at the National Rehabilitation Hospital. Since then a bed has not materialised and the former Subway restaurant manager has suffered a series of medical setbacks including contracting the MRSA superbug.

Catherine’s father Pat has campaigned tirelessly on her behalf. When he realised that a bed was unavailable at the Dublin hospital he arranged for her to be transferred to a specialist hospital in London.

Ms O’Leary was due to travel to the Royal Hospital for Neuro Disability in Putney on September 3, but was then informed that a bed would be made available for her at Dún Laoghaire on September 30.

Catherine opted to stay in Ireland in order to be close to her eight-year-old son Brandon and partner Nigel.

However, last week she was informed of further delays to her transfer to Dún Laoghaire. Mr O’Leary said his daughter was left heartbroken by the news as she has spent seven months lying in a high dependency unit at CUH waiting for a transfer.

“You just have to wonder what is going on. Catherine was laughing and smiling and delighted at the idea of going to Dublin. When we were told it could be another few months we were devastated and we wondered how we were going to tell Catherine. The doctors [at CUH] were livid when they heard the news. We had to go to Catherine and tell her what had happened. She is so confused by it all. You just can’t do this to people.”

On hearing the news late last week, hospital staff at CUH contacted the specialist rehabilitation clinic in Putney.

Thankfully, the hospital agreed to take Catherine as a patient in spite of the family’s last minute decision to turn down its original offer.

Mr O’Leary said he is grateful for the compassion shown by hospital management in Putney. Catherine is due to be transferred to Putney tomorrow and her treatment will be paid for by the HSE.

He also said he is unsure if and when his daughter will travel back to Ireland for treatment in Dún Laoghaire. A spokesperson for the National Rehabilitation Hospital was not available for comment yesterday. However, it is general HSE policy not to comment on individual cases.

Meanwhile, fundraising for Catherine’s long term treatment and care continues.

* Donations to the Catherine O’Leary Benefit Fund to Permanent TSB on North Main Street, Cork. Sort code 99-07-07; account number 12536790.