Riverchapel’s Richard fights Covid-19 in ICU
FAMILY HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH-LOVED HUSBAND AND DAD CONTRACTED VIRUS
THE family of a Riverchapel man, who is currently in ICU battling Covid-19, say they have no idea how he contracted the virus.
Richard Brady (66), who has type 2 diabetes, is currently in a critical condition in Wexford General Hospital following a positive diagnosis.
His daughter Caroline Brady, who also lives in Riverchapel, described her father as a shy and timid man who followed all the recommended protocols on hygiene and social distancing.
Richard started to feel unwell on March 25 and, to this day, the Bradys haven’t been able to pin down how or where Richard contracted Covid-19.
‘He was complaining with cold symptoms, he had a headache and his skin was sore but thought nothing of it, stayed at home and took paracetamol. The reason for us thinking nothing of it was that he’s a man that keeps to himself, goes out for his walk on his own every day. He was sanitising, washing his hands, keeping his distance, doing all of that.
‘It’s frightening to think that we haven’t a clue how he got it,’ Caroline said.
With Caroline unable to visit the hospital as she had been in contact with Richard, she says the hardest part of all this is not being able to talk to her dad or to give her mum a hug and tell her everything will be OK.
IT has been a challenging time for the family of Richard Brady, a 66-year-old man with type two diabetes who has been living in Riverchapel for the past number of years and who is in a critical condition in ICU in Wexford General Hospital suffering with Covid-19.
His daughter Caroline Brady, who also lives in Riverchapel, described her father as a shy and timid man, someone who kept to himself and followed all the recommended hygiene protocols.
After experiencing symptoms of a head cold, staying inside and later taking a turn for the worst, he received a positive result following a Covid-19 test on April 6, something his family never expected would come to their doorstep.
‘He’s a father of seven and grandfather of nine, he just turned 66 in February and he has been married to his wife Margaret for over 35 years. We moved to Riverchapel about four or five years ago, I live close by and I’m up at the house everyday so I might as well live there,’ explained Caroline.
‘I’ve my eight-year-old little girl, she’s granddad’s girl and they’re best pals. He collects her from school and does her homework with her everyday. It has been heartbreaking trying to answer her questions about this’.
The family’s experience with Covid-19 began when Caroline’s parents started to feel unwell on March 25. To this day, the Brady’s still haven’t been able to pin down where the virus came from to infect their father.
‘He was complaining with cold symptoms, he had a headache and he complained that his skin was sore. His clothes were hurting him when they rubbed off him and it kind of just progressed from there.
‘They both thought he might just have a bit of a head cold, and thought nothing of it so they stayed at home and took paracetamol, that’s all.
‘The reason for us thinking nothing of it was that he’s a man that keeps to himself, goes out for his walk on his own every day. He wouldn’t be the type of man to stop a person in the street for conversation, he’s very shy,’ said Caroline.
‘Himself and I had gone to
HE WAS FOLLOWING ALL THE PROTOCOLS, SANITISING, WASHING HIS HANDS, KEEPING HIS DISTANCE... IT’S FRIGHTENING THAT WE HAVEN’T A CLUE HOW IT GO IT
the shops a couple of times before that, but he was following all the protocols, sanitising, washing his hands, keeping his distance, he was doing all of that.
‘It’s frightening to think that we haven’t a clue how he got it. My mam has underlying issues
and the consultant in the ICU that’s looking after my dad even said that if anyone should have been in there, he would have thought it’d be her’.
Along with her mother, Margaret, Caroline is not allowed to enter Wexford General Hospital because she has been in contact with Richard.
‘Before he was admitted to hospital on April 6, he confined himself to the bed for a week. We said to him about getting the doctor and he didn’t want that, that’s always the way he has been. But he got worse, he stopped eating and I was starting to get worried about the diabetes side of things,’ said Caroline.
‘My mam was getting better, but I was terrified of him slipping into a diabetic coma.
‘On the Thursday before he was admitted, we contacted his own GP and arranged a test for Covid-19 for him and my mam.
‘On Saturday, when he still hadn’t gotten out of bed, I tried to involve a Care Doc, demanding on getting him seen because of the state he was in. He was trembling, he couldn’t talk properly, he was very confused and dazed. He didn’t know who any of us were or where he was.
‘The Care Doc spoke to him over the phone, recommended paracetamol but they never sent anyone out.
At this point, the family still hadn’t thought of the Covid-19, putting Richard’s symptoms down to his diabetes.
‘Even still at that time I was putting it down to the diabetes as he hadn’t been eating. But we knew by Monday that we had to do something, it was a doctor or an ambulance I said. So I rang the Gorey doctor and he asked us to bring him up.
‘Straight away within minutes of seeing him, the doctor told us that he was a critically ill man,’ said Caroline.
‘It was heartbreaking to see. He just didn’t know us – his daughter and granddaughter. It was like looking at a dementia patient. He hadn’t a clue where he was, for a man that was clued in with everything’.
When he was hospitalised, Richard’s treatment began with blood tests as well as an x-ray.
‘They found pneumonia in both lungs, they heavily sedated him and put him into an induced coma so they could get him onto the ventilator. He’s been on the ventilator ever since but we’ve seen no real improvement.
‘On Easter Sunday night, he took a turn and my two sisters from Dublin were allowed in to see him. We felt, as a family, as if they were bringing us in to say our goodbyes, because we thought he was going to be gone.
‘His temperature had hit the roof, they couldn’t control it and then his blood pressure dropped. They were trying to stabilise that, and they have since, but it did take a while,’ said Caroline.
‘We’re trying to stay positive for his sake, and for our own but the hardest part of it is not being able to see him.
‘It’s the same with the rest of the family, when my sisters were here they drove over see us and to my mam but they were miles away. None of us can give my mam a hug, comfort her and tell her everything is going to be OK. In hard times, that’s what you do you support each other and not being able to do that is disheartening’.
Although Caroline has gone through so many emotions over the last weeks, she said she is feeling anger about some people who aren’t taking Covid-19 seriously.
‘I’ve been very down in the dumps, very worried. My mam and dad shouldn’t have this worry, it’s devastating. The hospital are contacting us multiple times a day, they have been very accommodating. We are ringing them, and we thank them for everything they have done for him.
‘We haven’t been able to communicate with my dad in any way and I feel an awful lot of anger when I see these teenagers going around in their groups, and their parents not being held responsible for it,’ she said.
‘There’s protocol there for a reason and we should follow it, my dad did and he’s still in hospital with this, so why should these people get away with? The way I see it is that it’s the likes of these people that are spreading it.
‘We didn’t think about the severity of this disease at the start, we thought it was just a bit of a cold, and then we thought with him not eating, it was the diabetes. If we had have been thinking about Covid-19, we would have got him hospitalised a week sooner’.
WE’RE TRYING TO STAY POSITIVE FOR HIS SAKE, AND FOR OUR OWN, BUT THE HARDEST PART OF IT IS NOT BEING ABLE TO SEE HIM