Former patients at Beaumont were at the hospital in Dublin on Thursday for an event to thank specific members of staff for the care they provided.
The event was part of the Honour Your Heroes programme which allows patients to publicly acknowledge someone they believe made a special effort in their care.
“It’s lovely to be here today to thank the transplant co-ordinators and the people in the lab who did all the work with us and who guided us through the whole process,” said Noeleen Diskin, who donated a kidney to her identical twin sister Helen Keogh in 2014.
“It’s so lovely to be able to say how lucky we were that everything went well and that Helen is so well,” she said.
Marty Whelan
The reception was emceed by broadcaster Marty Whelan, who thanked staff at the hospital for treating his mother. “Today is a special day,” said Whelan. “It is a day where people are honoured for the extra mile that they go.”
Also among the speakers to pay their gratitude to staff was Pauline McManus, whose son Eoghan had to be rushed to Beaumont in May 2014 from Ballinasloe, Co Galway, after developing an AVM brain bleed.
The nine-year-old had been helping his mother unpack groceries when he complained of a headache which got progressively worse very quickly. His parents rushed him to Ballinasloe hospital when he started to vomit and sweat profusely.
Fought back tears
Ms McManus fought back tears as she described how Eoghan was placed on life support within just 40 minutes of complaining of initial symptoms. He was transferred to Beaumont under Garda escort and underwent surgery to relieve the pressure on his brain.
He made a steady recovery and was transferred to St Raphael’s children’s ward, where he spent a number of weeks before being discharged. He returned to school in September 2014 and is now back playing Gaelic football.
At the event, the boy thanked health care assistant Deirdre Greene. “She was always in good form, couldn’t do enough for me, always kept everyone laughing on the ward and raised their spirits on the hard days,” he said.
