A hero who overcame the ‘impossible’

THE Late John Bowen, Abbeyfeale and Castlegregory

JOHN Bowen of Shanbally, Abbeyfeale passed away on February 23, in University College Hospital, Limerick surrounded by his family and close friends.

Born on December 11, 1977, John was the youngest of three children born to Mary and Seán Bowen, of Shanbally, Abbeyfeale.

At the age of six both John and his sister Sinead were diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder, that meant they would suffer huge health difficulties that would affect their quality of life, and worse they received a poor prognosis of not living beyond the age of ten years. John bore these struggles with courage and dignity and he always found a smile from somewhere even in the most adverse of circumstances.

From an early age John was nicknamed John Sparks by friends. His nickname arose out of his interest in all things electrical and technological. His interest and love of technology, was a driving force in this life.

He was making home videos over 30 years ago, if he got a gift of a radio or some such at Christmas by January it would be in 15 different pieces because he would have taken it apart to find out how it worked.

John was a graduate of the Institute of Technology Tralee, where he received the Michael O’ Regan Outstanding Achievement Award in 1997. At ITT he embraced the opportunity he had to study and was not deterred by his disability or ill health.

Neighbours and friends were an important part of his life also, following his death, the local Fleadh by the Feale committee paid tribute to him for his work maintaining their website.

He enjoyed working with people, chatting and reaching out. In the face of the injustice of his illness he actively sought out and received much support from his community both in Abbeyfeale and in Castlegregory, which was very much a second home for John. It is these kinds of things that got him through.

John was also known for his cheeky sense of humour. In hospital, when porters would come to collect him in a wheelchair for his physio therapy he would welcome them with the words “Good morning father”, to which equally witty hospital staff would retort, “John are you ready to come down for confession?”. And John’s face would light up in delight that his joke was met with one better.

John’s life story was one about impossible challenges and in any good story about impossible challenges there has to be hero. In this story there were two.

The real heroes were John’s parents Mary and Sean both of whom spent their entire lives working with quiet determination and courage to ensure both John and his sister Sinead (who pre-deceased him) had the best quality of medical care.

They spent over 35 years travelling from consultant to consultant always seeking more answers, more solutions, new opinions. This included travelling to the UK to get expert advice. Following Sinead’s death 19 years ago they found a trial treatment for his rare illness, which he received intravenously each week, no doubt prolonging his life. He outlived his life expectation by 30 years. And this is down to his parent’s act of commitment, advocacy and love, to providing the very best of care so that their children could have a good quality of life.

John had a tough few months of ill health in 2016, including a few near death experiences. All of which he pulled through with humour, grace, and bravery in the face of sometimes deeply challenging physical and psychological hurdles.

He would smile in the face of these hard times, while planning his getaways from hospital to home.

He was always cared for by incredible teams of doctors, nurses, care assistants, and many other health care professionals who always rooted for him to get well and get back on his feet. The family are eternally grateful to all the doctors, surgeons and various professionals and carers along the way, along with people from various local businesses who had great time for John.

As people around Abbeyfeale could testify, John was back on his feet before Christmas and regularly met others while out shopping in the town.

When John returned to University Hospital Limerick in the middle of February, he was feeling good. In fact on his second last day he spent time with his sister Niamh watching Tommy Tiernan and eating Taytos. He was feeling better, believing that he had turned the corner on an infection and looking forward to going home again. Unfortunately, things took a turn the following morning and he passed from this world, unexpectedly yet peacefully and surrounded by those who loved him.

At his funeral, in Abbeyfeale Church, mourners were reminded of the Irish phrase, Ni bheidh a leithéid ann arís. In John’s case this rang especially true as people reflected on John who had touched the lives of so many and was very courageous, resilient but also hilarious.

John Bowen, is survived by parents Sean and Mary Bowen, sister Niamh, brother-in-law, uncles, aunts, nephews, cousins, extended family and a wide circle of friends.

The Late John Bowen