Comment: A Happy Christmas but uncertain New Year

For one Meath family, this Christmas will be extra special.

Navan woman Eimear Cullen received the greatest gift of all when she says her son's life was saved last week thanks to fast acting staff at Navan's A&E after the teenager suffered an anaphylactic reaction and became suddenly and seriously ill.

Eimear firmly believes that Aaron (15), would not have made the journey to get help at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda as his condition rapidly deteriorated.

Eimear takes up the story with reporter Louise Walsh.

"It was a life and death situation and was every mother's nightmare," she said after she recalled her mam driving at high speed for help while her son struggled to breathe in the back of the car.

"Aaron had been to the gym and had bought a bag of mixed nuts in the shop at about 6.30pm last Friday. He was heading to my mam's house in the town and called her to say he wasn't feeling well.

"My mam noticed that his lips were swollen and protruding so she rang me at work.

"He was walking and talking but said his throat was 'gurgly' and he was having trouble breathing so I left work and we decided to bring him to the A&E as a precaution.

"He has never had a problem or nut allergy before so this came out of the blue.

"We were heading for the car and he said he thought he was going to pass out so we agreed that Navan was the closest hospital to get to.

"Traffic was terrible in Navan and for every red light, we thought we would never get through. My mam put on the emergency lights and drove as fast as she could when he started saying that he couldn't breathe. We were so panicked and frightened.

"The nurses in Navan A&E gave him an epi pen and hooked him up to steroids and adrenaline straight away.

"When I say they were fantastic, I mean they were fantastic and acted so fast. They saved his life, no question about that.

"Because he is only 15 (Navan was stripped of its paediatric services in 2015), he couldn't stay there so staff called an ambulance to take him to Drogheda.

"We were waiting over two hours for an ambulance to collect us and transfer us all the way to Drogheda for just a few hours of observation."

Eimear described the scenes at Drogheda ED as "manic". "There were people lying on chairs, there were mothers with babies and kids everywhere. It was like walking through a war zone."

(Monday's INMO 'trolley watch' figures stated there were 16 patients waiting on trolleys in the ED.)

"The staff there were just amazing too but it's obvious they are under extreme pressure."

Thankfully Aaron has made a full recovery and will carry an epi pen in future but Eimear wants to highlight the services that exist at Our Lady's Hospital in Navan.

"If I had to drive to Drogheda, my son would never have made it and I'd be facing a whole different Christmas. I didn't even think I'd make Navan, it was that scary."

Unsurprisingly, the relieved mum is at a loss to understand why the HSE is persisting with plans to downgrade services in Navan for patient safety.

From last week, ambulances have started to divert critical and unstable patients away from Navan hospital. The protocol was agreed by the Minister for Health and the HSE to 'address urgent patient safety matters for the small number of patients presenting in ambulances to Navan who are critically or seriously unwell or likely to deteriorate.'

The transition of Navan's emergency department to a 24-hour medical assessment unit was signalled to kick in by mid-January 2023 but the Minister has yet to make a definitive decision leaving the people of Navan and Meath unsure of what the New Year will bring for them and if their A&E will be lost.

Should Health Minister Stephen Donnelly and the HSE decide to action that plan, they will do so in the face of opposition of thousands of Navan and Meath people, among them Eimear Cullen and her son Aaron.

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Wishing all our readers and advertisers a Peaceful Christmas and Prosperous New Year and thank you for all your support in 2022!

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