'Ireland is a difficult country to be sick in if you’re young': One woman's battle for medical care

Emma Kelly, 21, a sufferer of painfully debilitating rheumatoid arthritis, faces major struggles to get medical help for her condition and now fears for her future

Emma Kelly: 'I think there needs to be a better assessment when someone’s sick. You should not have to jump through so many hoops to get help.' Picture: Dan Linehan

Emma Kelly’s hands started swelling so much that her skin grew painfully tight and she almost lost control of her fingers as she scrolled through her phone in bed one night.

Her hands had suddenly ballooned to double their normal size. The diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis she would receive in the coming weeks would change her life unrecognisably.