This article is from page 20 of the 2008-05-13 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 20 JPG
A YOUNG Barefield woman broke down in tears as she listened to her sister, Laura, recall how her mother suffered from MRSA and kept the extent of her illness from her family.
Laura, a young mother of one, who has now found the strength to lead the Ennis support group, explained how she was due to give birth to her first child at the end of 2006 when the MRSA nightmare began for the EVOOUE As
“I was due to give birth to my daughter in Limerick. It would have been my mother’s first grandchild. My mother had Parkinson’s for years and she was admitted to Ennis hos- pital while I was in hospital for five weeks before I gave birth to Alicia.
“I had to go visit her in the Inten- sive Care Unit and go back to the maternity unit directly after my visit. Only for I took it upon myself and the matron in the maternity warned me about the MRSA bug, I would not be aware of the threat.
“T wasn’t asked to wash my hands. I wasn’t asked to do anything. I did it of my own accord. Nobody met me at the doors.
“IT wore no gowns going into the Intensive Care Unit. My mum had MRSA for 40 days and the doctors denied it. My mum visited Caher- calla for a short period and she had a bed sore that was left untreated. She went back to Ennis General Hospital again and it was left untreated there as well, only for my aunt took it upon herself everyday to wash the wound.
‘After I had my daughter who was prematurely born, it was a while be- fore I was able to visit my mum again. When I went in to visit her, she was in a public ward and they still denied she had MRSA. I was there with her as much as I could, not knowing she was carrying the bug and I’d go back to my daughter every night.
She died Christmas Eve morning. The day before she died, I just looked at her chart and her doctor had writ- ten MRSA, just two days before she ehteren
“Only for I looked at her chart that day, I would have never known. I lost the head and went out and called for the matron – or whoever she was – I don’t know. And they still denied it. The doctor came down and he denied it and it was written down in black and white. A day later she died.
‘“Ttis down on her death cert that she died of the bug. I made everybody on that ward know she carried it.
All these elderly people with open sores and they just lay beside her on the ward.”