Hurler Daly tweets over mother’s trolley wait
FORMER Clare hurling manager Anthony Daly has said the reality of the A&E crisis ‘really hit home’ after this elderly mother was left waiting on a trolley for 37 hours this week.
Mr Daly tweeted details of the conditions his 89-year-old mother, Mary, had to endure in hospital, on Friday night in University Hospital Limerick, which were widely retweeted.
‘Just when it hits close to home the sight of yr 89 year old exhausted Mam on a trolley for 37 hours and counting make u disillusioned bout this “recovered” country of ours,’ he wrote. ‘It’s tragic and so many more in same situation. No fault of incredible frontline staff.’
A short time later in a second tweet, the two-time All-Ireland Hurling Championship winner went on to say how he felt he almost had to beg for a bed in hospital, and that even the staff seemed to be helpless.
Daly, 48, was inundated with messages of support on the social media site, with many including Health Minister Simon Harris in their replies to alert him to another case of an elderly person waiting more than 24 hours for a bed.
Speaking to the Irish Mail on Sunday yesterday, Mr Daly, who currently manages Dublin club Kilmacud Crokes, said while trolley figures are routinely headline news, it is hard to truly believe them until one sees the level of over-crowding with one’s own eyes. ‘I suppose so many people were on trolleys all over the place, it wasn’t exclusive to me or my mother,’ he said.
‘You don’t realise it when you see it on the news. It’s just tough in A&E and the staff are doing their absolute best. But you don’t believe it for yourself until you see it,’ he said.
Mr Daly said his mother got a bed in a ward at 5am yesterday and by yesterday afternoon was recovering well from a minor illness.
When contacted for comment by the MoS, a spokesman for the HSE said that they do not comment on individual cases.