‘I doubted myself – apology by hospital means a lot to me’
Mother reveals heartbreak for her teenage son
A 35-YEAR-OLD mother with terminal cervical cancer says getting an apology from her hospital admitting liability means so much to her.
Last week, Eileen Rushe, the mother of a 14-year-old boy, got a letter of apology after settling her action against the HSE.
The mother of one said if her diagnosis was caught when it should have been, she would have had a 90pc chance of survival. However, Ms Rushe was thankful for the genuine apology because so many women before her have had the “polar opposite” experience.
She said she doubted herself for a long time, and wondered was there more she could’ve done to make sure she’d be around for her son Séamus.
In the letter to court, the general manager of Louth County Hospital in Dundalk, on behalf of the colposcopy unit and hospital management, offered “my most sincere apology to you for the failings which occurred while you were under our care”.
The manager went on: “I understand that this has had the most serious consequences for you and for that I wish to offer you and your family my heartfelt apologies.”
Speaking on RTÉ Radio 1’s Sunday with Miriam , Ms Rushe said: “When this all started with my solicitor, he set my expectations very low that maybe we wouldn’t get an apology.
“As a woman, I think we always doubt ourselves and for a long time I felt had I done something differently, would I be here for Seamus?
“So, when I got what I believe was a genuine apology off the hospital, not a generic one, that really made the whole legal journey worth it.
“There’s also the financial element that will help my care and also my parents who will ultimately mind Séamus.”
In 2017, Ms Rushe’s son lost his father John after he died from sudden adult death syndrome related to epilepsy.
Unlike many women with cervical cancer who have taken on cases against the HSE, the 35-year-old’s smear test did present as abnormal. However, it was claimed from May 2017 that there was a failure to diagnose or refer Ms Rushe to the appropriate specialist for the purpose of diagnosing cervical cancer.
Thus, it was claimed cytological cell changes went untreated until December 2018 when she was diagnosed with stage 3 invasive cervical cancer.
The mother, from Termonfeckin, Co Louth, was given the all-clear in summer 2019, but unfortunately, a year later was given the devastating diagnosis that the cancer was back, it had spread and it was aggressive.
“It was devastating – they weren’t using the words ‘cure’ anymore they were using the word ‘control’,” she said.
Despite receiving this news, Ms Rushe said she is determined to stay positive and that she still lives in hope with goals. “I feel all the women should get apologies where there is wrong and the wording of some of them are less than...
“But I had a polar opposite experience to many other women who have gone through it before me.”