“IT’S SAD WHEN THEY DIE BUT TO SEE THE LOVELY PEACE, IT WAS WONDERFUL. I HADN’T SEEN HIM LOOK LIKE THAT FOR SUCH A LONG TIME,” BER LUCEY
PARAMEDICS who transferred a terminally ill man to a hospice in Cork give an insight into the country’s frontline emergency medical service.
The series finale, which airs on Thursday, May 21 at 9pm on TV3, sees Emergency Medical Technician Des O’Halloran and Trainee Paramedics Peter Lane in Cork, pick up terminally ill patient Jim Lucey and transfer him to Marymount Hospice in the NAS Intermediate Care Ambulance.
Jim’s wife Ber was by his side the entire time and described the ambulance journey as “a lovely, lovely kind atmosphere, just when you need it”.
Sadly, Jim passed away shortly after filming but Ber is very grateful to the help and care he received from the National Ambulance Service.
Speaking about her late husband Jim, Ber said: “It’s sad when they die but to see the lovely peace, it was wonderful. I hadn’t seen him look like that for such a long time.”
She said: “He was twice as handsome again because he was a very good looking man when he was younger.”
She said: “The pain went and it was so peaceful. It was nice but you know it was sad, what can you do? “It’s terrible lonesome without him, terrible lonesome but I was surrounded by help and kindness and that made a huge difference.”
The fly-on-the-wall series filed by Tile Films for TV3 along with the help of the HSE National Ambulance Service brings viewers on a journey that has previously remained behind ambulance doors.
This episode also sees the Paramedics in Cork, dealing with the drinking culture amongst young people.
From a trip up on a curb to a bust up after a few too many, they’ve seen it all.
Paramedic Imelda O’Shea Coughlan explains what happens when one drink too many is the difference between a pleasant evening and a night in A&E.
“A lot of the younger teenagers that are drinking now think that they can keep up with their friends drinking and they kind of end up racing each other and there’s never a very good outcome of it,” said Imelda.
“They usually end up in an A&E and mammy and daddy being called in, not very happy and the child or the teenager promising that they’re never again going to drink, which we all know isn’t going to happen,” said Imelda.
The final episode of ‘Paramedics’ will air on Thursday, May 21 at 9pm on TV3.