Traditional music great Peoples dies at age of 70
A GRIEVING mother has described the power of breastfeeding as the experience that helped her cope as her baby son clung to life.
Kelly Bramwell found out at her 20-week scan that her baby had a potentially deadly heart defect.
And while doctors warned her to expect the worst, the beauty therapist from Annalong, Co Down, never imagined the trauma that lay ahead.
“Itwastheworstdaywhenwe found out, nothing can prepare you for hearing your baby is going to be very sick when they’re born,” said Kelly.
Rhys arrived into the world on November 10, 2016.
Kelly (34), who has been married to Paul (41), a sales manager, for five years, was allowed limited time to hold him before he was whisked away to the neonatal intensive care unit.
“I got about 10 minutes with him but it felt like seconds,” she said.
It was far from an ideal beginning to the breastfeeding experience, but Kelly — also mum to four-year-old Rueben — was determined to make it work.
Given his medical condition, Rhys was initially unable to feed directly from Kelly in the early days.
Speaking out about her harrowing ordeal to coincide with World Breastfeeding Week, she explained: “I expressed so they could give the milk to him through a tube. Then when he got strong enough I started to try breastfeeding him myself and we got there eventually. He just kept fighting and I have such precious memories. It meant so much to me that I would be able to feed him, especially because he was so unwell and I knew it would be really good for him.”
She continued: “When everything else in the ICU was complete chaos, I just felt such peace and such a bond with him when I was feeding him. I took every opportunity I could to have him near me, close to me, so he knew I loved him.
“Breastfeeding was a time for just the two of us, a time for me to be able to do something for RhyswhenmostofthetimeIfelt completely helpless,” she added.
And throughout his time in hospital, there were countless moments when Kelly felt overwhelmed.
The first of many traumas came as Rhys was taken away for bowel surgery when he was less than a week old.
A few weeks later Kelly, Paul and Rueben travelled with Rhys to Birmingham for him to undergo the first of a series of planned open heart surgeries.
He did so well that he was finally allowed to go home when he was three months old. Kelly said: “I’ll never forget the first night at home and the four of us in the living room together and thinking ‘thank God we weren’t in hospital anymore’, it was just perfect.”
Tragically, Rhys’ health was about to take a turn for the worst. Kelly and Paul noticed that he didn’t appear to be himself and his nose was becoming more and more blue.
They decided to ring Clark Kelly and Paul Bramwell with their son Rueben and baby Rhys. Inset: mum Kelly with Rhys
Clinic, Northern Ireland’s children’s specialist heart unit, for advice and the nurse asked them to bring Rhys in for a check-up. It turned out that Rhys had developed sepsis.
Kelly continued: “He was so sick that he had to go straight back to intensive care and the panic came straight back, it felt like hell and I just couldn’t un-
derstand why this was happening to us.”
Rhys became so unwell that he was rushed back to Birmingham where surgeons discovered the area around a stent inserted previously was badly infected.
“His wee body was breaking and then eventually the discussion with the doctors started to change and I didn’t want to listen, I didn’t want that to be our story,” continued Kelly. RENOWNED fiddle player and composer Tommy Peoples has died aged 70.
A talented solo performer who played with high-profile traditional groups such as The Bothy Band, he passed away on Friday.
Born in Donegal in 1948, his cousin Joe Cassidy taught him how to play the instrument.
In 1965 he moved to Dublin and became a garda but his involvement in music saw him join a number of groups. He eventually moved to Clare where he married Mary Linnane, and lived there for more than 30 years.
He was named the first TG4 traditional musician of the year in 1998, and in 2013 won the composer of the year award.
Irish President Michael D Higgins led tributes, saying: “Regarded as a master of his craft, Tommy enchanted audiences at home and abroad with his unique style of music, playing with the Kilfenora Ceili Band, the Bothy Band and many other legendary figures in the world of traditional Irish Music.
“Sabina and I send our deepest condolences to his family, friends and all those who knew him.”