The Garrison housewife and farmer, Ann McGrath, who sustained life-threatening injuries when the tractor she had been driving drove over her, causing severe injuries to her lungs and ribs, is holding her own.
A noted figure in ladies gaelic football, ex-player and administrator, Ann is still in an induced coma in the Royal Victoria Hospital three weeks on.
Last Thursday, she underwent an operation in which 15 of her ribs, eight on one side, seven on the other, were ‘plated’.
The procedure is designed to provide stable fixation, that is minimally invasive, for acute fractures, of the rib.
Yesterday, before departing for Belfast, her brother-in-law, Gabriel McGrath told the Herald that, while it was a case of ‘wait and see’, Ann’s condition had got no worse.
“As far as we know, she’s doing good enough, but they’re (the doctors) are not saying an awful lot. And, at the same time, they seem to be happy enough.”
He reported that Ann’s husband, Gerry, his brother, was ‘coping not too bad’: “Travelling up and down is a bit of a problem, but you don’t mind when things are middling.
“Thankfully, she’s got no worse and that’s the most important. I suppose she has come a long way to get where she is, but she has a long way to go.”
As for Ann’s lungs, Gabriel said the doctors were saying very little.
“We think they are doing OK. They’ve cut back on the oxygen she’s getting, she’s on 50 per cent oxygen, but they can’t do an awful lot with the lungs till the ribs are sorted out, so hopefully, the lungs will improve after the surgery they did last Thursday.”
As for the accident, about which the family know little, Gabriel said things could have been much worse.
“She could have been killed just as handy but, thankfully, through prayer and the doctors they have brought her this far and hopefully that will continue. That’s about as much as we can make it.”
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