Matthew (18) wins over hearts of the nation
JUST ONE of Gorey’s family carers to appear on David Brophy’s Unsung Heroes documentary over the last two weeks was Matthew McCartin (18) who won over the hearts of the nation when he opened up about caring for his father, Eddie McCartin.
Alongside his mother Martina, who also took part in the choir made up of Wexford’s carers, Matthew described caring for his father as a full time commitment.
But it was clear that his commitment to care came from pure love and respect for his dad, who has Parkinson’s disease with dementia and uses a wheelchair and received his diagnosis when Matthew was just five years old.
Matthew explained that being part of the choir was something that started small, but that he has been overwhelmed by the response the programme received thanks to the choir itself.
‘We never thought it’d be such a big deal in the beginning and we joined because my mam wanted to get out of the house and do something fun, just to learn something else and have a bit of quality time. ‘Most of the time when you’re caring there isn’t much spare time to enjoy because really caring is a full time job a so it was just fun for the hour or two hours that we had to go up and do choir. It really was a bonus then that it was all getting recorder to spread a good message,’ he said.
Since the second half of the documentary series aired on Wednesday last, Matthew and his family have received mountains of praise.
‘I was overwhelmed with the amount of positive responses we’ve gotten from all over. I was never expecting anything of this magnitude to come out of it, it was just unreal.
‘I got a lot of support from my friends, even people from school that I wouldn’t have talked to that often just messaging me out of nowhere but my family were the best. They were very supportive and proud when it came out.
‘Family on my dad’s side always say that I’m following in my father’s footsteps and now it just feels like I actually am. He was a great singer back in the day and I never got to see it because I was so young when he got diagnosed. I never really saw that part of him, but I would have heard stories.
‘It has brought me closer to my dad, being interested in music, I feel now that I’m taking that on and I’m proud of myself ’.
The Gorey Community School student described the support from viewers as heart warming, and said that he was happy to be a part of something like that which allowed the stories of family carers to be listened to.
‘It’s always nice to do something just to show that it’s not just adults who are carers. I was the youngest in the choir, but there are 56,000 young carers out there around Ireland who are in similar situations if not worse than I am. They should go out and do their own thing, be proud of who and what they are and what they do. They are kids and teenagers at the same time and they should be a normal kid and enjoy things like meeting friends, joining clubs or singing it choirs, it’s all the same really’.
Matthew said that he is looking forward to the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions so that he can go back to work at Sports Direct in Gorey and back to school to do his Leaving Certificate next year.
Having cocooned at home now for some time with his father, Matthew looks forward to getting back to his routine.
‘We’ve had a system in the house for years. My dad was always passionate about soccer and he wanted me to continue on playing football, so I usually go training three times a week with Gorey Celtic and go to matches.
‘He brought me up when I was really young to enjoy football and in the early years he’d come to matches and watch me play or stay for the training sessions and he really did enjoy it, but the past few years he just hasn’t been able to.
‘If I need to call in sick at work or I need to stay home from a party or a match or training session to help my mum, I’m happy to do so. I wouldn’t see it as a drag or a chore. I’ve never seen it as much of a sacrifice, it’s just something I’ve cracked on doing and you don’t feel sorry for yourself,’ he said.
The McCartins managed to keep hope alive during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
‘Cocooning itself was similar to how our lives were before it. To keep my dad safe and protected, he doesn’t really leave the house much so it doesn’t feel like things changed much as we are restricted on where we go with my dad. It just restricted us because my Mam and me just stayed inside.
‘But he was confused as to why more people weren’t coming down to see him, like his family and some of his old friends.
‘Cocooning gave us security as we knew we were only seeing two people in total, so we realised if we just kept this up that we should be okay. You can never predict the future, so we just stayed consistent in our cocooning.’
Last year, Matthew was presented with the title of Family Carers Ireland Leinster Young Carer of the Year Award for his devotion to the father.
David Brophy’s Unsung Heroes is still available to view on the RTE player, and the McCartins are just one family from the local area to be featured.