AFTER bringing three children into the world and fighting off cancer eight years ago, Newtownbutler woman Margaret Byrne never expected that her toughest challenge was yet to come at the age of 73. Margaret tested positive for Covid-19 when rushed into SWAH by ambulance from her family home. Despite being told by health professionals that if she “slipped off” they would not bring her back, Margaret is now at home and on the road to recovery after winning the greatest battle of her life.
Margaret’s daughter Pauline told the Herald; “Mammy had been sick at home for three weeks and then spent a week in hospital, the whole experience was so hard for daddy because he was just there watching and listening to her not fit to breathe for those few weeks at home. “We kept thinking it was a chest infection and when they did eventually take her in it was confirmed she had Pneumonia on both lungs which had put a lot of stress on her heart and then they done the Covid-19 test and it came back positive. “It was an extremely scary experience because my mother was told at one stage that if she slipped off in her sleep they wouldn’t be bringing her back, when we were told that I can’t even begin to describe the feeling. It was such a lonely experience, I can’t even bare to talk about it.
“For me it was the loneliness of it all, not being able to hug or touch her and give her everything she gave us growing up, it’s horrendous for people going through it on their own and family members not being able comfort the people who matter most to them. Her husband and children weren’t even allowed in to see her when she needed us most. Mammy went off in an ambulance and that was the last we seen of her until she got out.”
Despite the family’s turmoil, Pauline wants to remind people that there is “light at the end of the tunnel” as long as we all do our part as a community by staying home and saving lives. “On behalf of our family we would like to say a massive thank you to all the frontline workers at SWAH who put their own lives at risk on a daily basis and for looking after and taking such good care of our mother during her fight against Covid-19. Thankfully she’s back home and in great form, still in the house obviously isolating but doing amazing. “When mammy came out of SWAH nurses and doctors came out and all lined up at both sides of the hospital to cheer, clap and congratulate her on fighting Covid-19. It’s something that will stay with us as a family for the rest of our lives. It’s unreal. Daddy is just over the moon to have her back and I hate the thought of anyone ever having to go through it,” said Pauline.
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