Your Stories

My two-year-old daughter, Heidi, has a rare form of diabetes called diabetes insipidus. Last February we called an ambulance after she started having a seizure. The ambulance got here in minutes, but the personnel didn’t want to move her until she was seen by an advanced paramedic. However, he could not find our house, so we went in the ambulance without him and met him outside Skibbereen.

Things were critical by the time we reached Cork University Hospital and my daughter was rushed to
resuscitation. We were told in the hospital that the only reason she is still alive today is because we had got her to the hospital so quickly, something I could not have done myself.

The type of seizure she had was due to a lack of sodium in the blood, a side effect of the medication she takes for diabetes. We were also told by the consultant that time is of the essence with these seizures and that it is rare for kids to survive them without long-term brain damage.

Thankfully, our daughter has no long-term damage, something I will always be grateful to the ambulance personnel for.

Emily O’Sullivan

November 17th 2007 I was visiting Skibbereen and suffered a major heart attack adjacent to the car park. I was in an ambulance on the way to Bantry within a half hour. I had to be resusitated by paramedic Mick Lynch ang his colleague, Frank or Finbarr on the way as my heart had stopped. Only for the service and the quick response I would not be alive today. Coincidently my brother also suffered a heart attack in Skibb in 1990 and he was also rushed to Bantry without delay where he was stabalised and is still alive today, thanks to the ammbulance service. We are two real life examples of people who would not be here if the proposals go through.

Good luck to your campaign,

Terence O’Sullivan

I fell 8 foot onto a concrete floor at 2am at home nr Allihies. While waiting for the ambulance I was thinking about getting moved onto the sofa as it was cold on the floor and I didn’t think I had done too much damage. Luckily the ambulance came in 20 mins (so they must have left the station at Ctb immediately) and I was not moved. It turned out I had badly broken 3 vertebra and if I was moved without the help of the paramedics I would have ended up paralyzed from the waist down. The service meant I can walk.

Sue Money

My daughter recently had a car accident, the emergency services were called and both the rapid response unit and the Skibbereen Ambulance service attended the scene, she was removed by ambulance to CUH. While excellent care was administered, the length of time the Skibbereen ambulance was engaged between the call out, road side assistance, travelling to CUH and WAITING for their trolley to be returned was in excess of FOUR hours – this is without the time involved in returning to Skibbereen/Bantry. This is an extremely long time for one ambulance to be out of this vast area.

Sheila McGrath

I had a home birth with my now 9 year old son. After the birth I started feally really unwell and I had lost a huge amount of blood. The ambulance was called and got to me really quick, they put me straight on to a stretcher and into the ambulance. Once in there I was given plasma which is fake blood to keep me going until we got to the hospital which we did in incredible time. Because we were in an ambulance my new born could also stay with me. They saved my life.

Natalie Webb

One night while getting my kids ready for bed my husband went to the bathroom to get their toothbrushes ready. My three year old daughter started jumping on the bed (despite having been told not to many times before). She fell off the bed and landed on her sholders and neck. By the time my husband had run back from the bathroom she was having a seizure on the floor. He shouted to call an ambulance.

They arrived within minutes and although she seemed fine by then they insisted that they take her to CUH. Upset but not in pain she set off in the ambulance talking and looking fine. Between Ross and Clon she took a turn and stopped breathing. Luckily we were in the right place and had a trained paramedic to resuss her and keep her alive. I only hope that we will have this service in the future. No politician can tell me that she is not worth it.

Majella Ní Mheiscil Burchill

Earlier this year my three year old had a very nasty fall. His head was cut and blood was pouring from out of his ear-hole down his face. I got him to south doc. He had a potential skull fracture and needed an immediate cat scan. The doctor on duty called for an ambulance, but on being told it would take at least 40 minutes to arrive, I was advised to get my husband to drive at speed in the car to Cork. I was to watch my son in case of convulsions, loss of consciousness, stopping breathing etc. etc… to be honest I don’t remember anything except being terrified for him.

When I asked what I should do if anything happened on the way I was told to ring back and I would be advised at roadside on how to deal with it. That was a fairly terrifying drive to Cork and of course extremely dangerous to drive at speed.

Everyone it seems knows a story where they have had to drive at speed themselves to hospital and put their blinkers on etc. This happened BEFORE the proposed cuts and will undoubtedly become the norm rather than the exception. This cannot be allowed to happen.

On the opposite side, when I fell through a roof and fractured one of my back bones a few years back, an ambulance came quickly and had the facility to put me on a back board/stretcher and get me safely to Bantry hospital. I certainly would not have been able to travel by car and in future would be faced with an extended (painful and frightening) wait to be taken to Cork.

Delia Jackson