The Midlands Hospital Portlaoise has had its fair share of bad stories over the past few years, but a Laois woman’s testimony about giving birth to her daughter Amy is one that proves how essential the hospital is.
Cliona O’Connell, who lives near Abbeyleix, gave birth to her daughter Aoife in extradordinary circumstances in 2010. She managed to hold back the tears as she said, “Without Portlaoise Hospital my daughter would not be here today.
“I arrived at the A&E, 29 weeks pregnant in December 2010 – after five hours in snow.”
“We didn’t think we would get to keep her, but we had her and everything was absolutely perfect,” she tearfully added.
Cliona added to her emotional testimony saying, “That M7 is a long, long road, but the road to Tullamore is even worse-when you’re thinking about the what-ifs.”
She spoke about the experiences her family, including her two daughters Aoife and Bebhinn, have in the Midlands Regional Hospital Portlaoise.
“We’ve been lucky because we had Aoife in Portlaoise and we’ve been unlucky because Bev has been in there a million times.
“A simple vomiting bug in our house is hospital bags, ready to go, in contact with the hospital, organising childcare. We can’t live without the A&E.
“We can’t get as far as Tullamore, we definitely won’t get as far as Dublin. We can’t lose it.”
Cliona was met with tremendous appalause by the crowds.
She also spoke about the importance of having an A&E near Portlaoise Prison.
“If something happens one of those boys in there, we have Portlaoise A&E there to help them. They are not gonig to make it to somewhere else if something goes wrong in there. We need Portlaoise A&E to protect our lads that are working in there day-in, day-out.”
“I’m speaking to Minister Harris on behalf of every parent and every child and everybody who may have need to use it- keep your hands off our hospital. Portlaoise A&E is ours and we need it.”
Cliona was just one of the speakers who gave their testimony surrounding Midlands Hospital Portlaoise at the ‘Light for Lives’ Rally this evening in Portlaoise.
Over 5,000 marched to save Midlands Regional Hospital Portlaoise from further downgrades.
The rally was organised by the Portlaoise Hospital Action committee who have been very active in recent weeks following a leaked report of Dr Susan O’Reilly’s plan for the Midlands Regional Hospital.
Laois’s three elected representatives in Dail Eireann are expected to meet with Dr Susan O’Reilly about the future of Portlaoise hospital in the coming days.
You can watch all the speeches from the protest rally here. Cliona O’Connell appears on the 28-minute mark.
SEE ALSO – In Pictures: Thousands support the Light for Lives rally for Midlands Hospital Portlaoise
