Walterstown woman "relieved" after husband with stage 4 cancer finally approved for medical card

A bride who was left heartbroken after being forced to sell the wedding dress she never got to wear when her terminally ill husband was refused a medical card has expressed her relief that the decision has now been over turned.

Naomi Mooney from Walterstown recently spoke of her heartache at having to sell her wedding dress after her husband John's (41) application for a medical card had been turned down despite him having stage four cancer causing huge emotional and financial stress for the family.

In January 2020, Naomi Mooney's husband John (41) received a shock diagnosis of advanced colorectal cancer, having been ill for just a few weeks. Over the past 18 months, John has undergone a number of major surgeries, scans and treatments but despite the his deteriorating health was recently denied a medical card and was even contemplating giving up treatment as not to be a burden on his family.

However, in a u turn HSE officials contacted the family in recent days explaining that a "system error" had resulted in the incorrect outcome and John would receive the medical card after all.

Those with medical expenses, may qualify for a discretionary medical card that is not means tested based but applications are required to undergo medical review. In John's case this step was not taken.

Naomi says she is "delighted" at the development but is calling for the process to be simplified for those suffering with a terminal illness to take the unnecessary pressure off families. She said:

"I am relieved and it is a huge weight off our shoulders but it shows that there needs to be a better process for people with cancer. You have to fill in so many forms and get so many reports to upload, there are so many hoops to jump through just to even apply to get it.

"I got a call from a lady dealing with John's application and she apologised profusely for the stress that was caused. We had to apply for a discretionary medical card because of John's medical condition but whatever happened with the system it was meant to go to a review with a medical officer but it never did so that's why we only ended up getting the gp visit card instead that was really no use to us as all his care needs are hospital based.

"Hopefully one day the government will look into better ways for those with terminal illnesses to access medical cards.We can now just focus on the different surgeries and treatments going forward, he has the medical card for at least three years so we don't have to worry about the cost and implications of it all anymore."

Naomi previously told of how she was forced to sell the cherished wedding dress she never got to wear to raise money towards her husband's care. The childhood sweethearts tied the knot in a low key ceremony last year and were looking forward to celebrating with a proper reception this year where the mother of one was hoping to wear her dream dress but plans were abandoned so any spare cash could be used for John's needs.

The mum of one said the stress of being turned down for a medical card was taking its toll that John had even suggested stopping treatment in order to avoid being a burden on the family.

"He is fighting so hard to keep as well as he can but he says if he can’t have a medical card, maybe he should just stop treatment as we can’t afford the costs of all his medications and scans. I’ve told him that is not an option under any circumstances."

The HSE has been contacted for comment