Seamus suffers fall while hanging poster
ELECTION candidate Seamus Connor fell from a ladder, broke his wrist and cut his face badly last Thursday as he was hanging an election poster.
He required surgery and a titanium plate in his wrist.
The incident occurred on Putland Road, not far from Seamus’s Cuala Road family home.
There was someone holding the bottom of the ladder, but the pole was slippery with moss and the ladder gave way.
‘My forehead smacked on the pavement,’ said Seamus, who fell around 10 feet. There was blood pouring from his wounds and it was clear that his wrist was fractured.
His mother drove him to St Vincent’s where he was on a trolley overnight and waited
‘It really upset me to see elderly people on trolleys with no dignity or privacy,’ said the Aontú candidate, who waited two days for emergency surgery.
Mr Connor (35) has said that the state of the health service holds a mirror up to the Minister for Health, describing him as ‘completely out of his depth’
‘I now have first hand experience of our health service, and it’s not pretty, said the secondary school teacher and environmentalist.
‘The doctor has told me that there is a heightened risk that I may suffer lack of mobility and arthritis down the line given the fact I had to wait for surgery. It’s just so frustrating.
‘I’m not for a second attacking the staff they’re wonderful,’ said Mr Connor. ‘I was attended to quickly as there was lots of blood around my face and the bones in my wrist were visible; they were sticking up.’
He was initially told he would have surgery on Friday but it was changed to Saturday due to the lack of space and staff.
‘I spent the first night on a trolley in a packed corridor, watching staff who were clearly overworked doing all they could to make the best of a terrible situation,’ he said.
‘Naturally they wanted to know how I hurt myself and when I told them I fell while putting up posters, running for the election for Aontú, several asked me about Aontú’s health policies; The front-line staff in hospitals all over the country, and certainly those who treated me in St Vincent’s are absolutely lovely and hard-working dedicated people; however they are at breaking point.’
They told Mr Connor of the abuse they receive from patients, and often the families of patients, who are stressed and overwrought. ‘It’s not fair to staff or patients,’ he said.
‘I was moved from trolley to trolley to a bed and back again over 24 hours to try and make space for other patients. It was heart-breaking to see elderly people suffering the indignity of lying in a busy corridor with absolutely no privacy
‘I’m a young fit guy, but I could see elderly people clutching on to the trolleys, terrified of falling off - these are fragile and vulnerable people who deserve dignity.
‘I heard one elderly man, he must have been in his 80’s, and he asked the Nurse if he could sleep on a chair instead of the trolley saying he couldn’t stand the trolley, comparing it to a stone slab,’ he said.
Mr Connor added that he purposely didn’t put up any posters until nearer the time of the election as he is passionate about the environment and believes there is too much waste linked to election posters.
‘A solution I like promote for our county and also our country is to have one central location in each town and village for an election billboard whereby each candidate can have just one poster with the exact same dimensions and no other posters anywhere else.’
‘I want to tell the people of Wicklow I am not out of the race because of this,’ said Mr Connor, who is recovering and has received many messages of encouragement and support.
‘I’m upbeat and not going to let it get me down,’ he said.
‘I have a fantastic team and I want to thank the volunteers, and the Aontú members of Wicklow.’
ST David’s Holy Faith and Temple Carrig secondary schools are hosting a ‘Wicklow Speaks’ town hall event at St David’s on Thursday, January 30, at 7.30 p.m.
Candidates for the Wicklow constituency will present their views and ideas. The event is an objective, impartial service to voters of
Wicklow.
This event stemmed from both schools’ very successful drives to add 18 year old students to the register of electors. During that campaign it was noted that one of the major concerns for newly registered voters was how to know who to vote for. The politics students, in the spirit of the new Politics and Society Leaving Certificate subject taught in both schools, organised this event to address this situation.
The candidates will have 2-3 minutes to share their vision for the constituency and the nation. Rigorous questioning from the newly registered voters will follow, along with public questions.