This article is from page 1 of the 2012-09-04 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 1 JPG
AS CARERS, the elderly and those with disabilities face an uncertain wait while the HSE decides how much of their services to cut, one Clare mother worries about her daughter’s future. Mary Finnegan worries about what will happen her daughter Claire when she is gone.
The Cratloe woman is Claire’s primary carer and assistant but she realises that if the cuts to the health services announced last week remain in place, her daughter has no chance of ever receiving a personal assistant and her independence.
The greater worry for this mother is how her daughter will manage if she can no longer take care of her.
“It is more about what is going to happen after me. I look at what I do now for her and I wonder who is going to do it when I am gone,” she said. Claire is even more frustrated by the lack of service, and is very stressed as she battles for some little assistance from the HSE.
She has applied to the service on numerous occasions for a personal assistance for a few hours a week but repeatedly she has been told “no”.
More than two years ago Claire, who lives with the condition spina bifida, broke her leg during a fall while she tried to shop.
“I was in a wheelchair. I could not drive and still I was turned down for an assistant. I explained to the HSE that this would happen again if I did not get some help. I told them I was struggling. My biggest issue was with shopping. I cannot reach items if I am in my wheelchair, and I cannot carry bags if I have my crutches,” she explained.
Last November Claire’s harrowing prediction came true and she fell again, and once again broke her leg.
Mary maintains that this would not have happened had she an assistant with her.
Claire has also suffered severe burns to her feet while taking a bath. She explained to The Clare People that she attempted to live independently without home help, but one evening while drawing a bath was unaware of the temperature this resulted in severe burns.