Woman, 60, hails unit for ‘striking’ stroke recovery

A 60-year-old grandmother, who made a remarkable recovery from a devastating stroke, told last night how she owed her life to a general hospital in West Cork.

A dedicated acute stroke unit, part of the re-organisation of Bantry General Hospital, was one of the first to be established in the country.

Mary Dowling was admitted two-and-a-half years ago, paralysed on her left side and without speech. She spent three months in the new stroke unit and, within six months, left with the aid of a hospital.