The people of Longford and further afield are working to raise funds for a 57-year-old husband, father and grandfather from Granard, well known as a cattle dealer, buying and selling cattle all over the country, who has been hit with a serious health setback.
Declan Quinn suffered a brain haemorrhage on December 31 last, changing his life forever.
“Since then, he has fought a tough battle, with the assistance of Mullingar hospital and the National Rehabilitation Hospital, to regain the ability to do simple everyday things such as eating a biscuit and having a cup of tea,” said his daughter, Natasha Egan.
“Unfortunately he has been unable to regain mobility. As a result, he will be a wheelchair user for life, requiring a high level of assistance,” she said.
An iDonate page has been set up to raise funds to prepare the Granard cattle dealer’s home for his needs and to ensure that he can continue rehabilitation and lead as normal a life as possible in his own home.
Declan’s neighbours and close friends are also organising a benefit night and charity auction with a raffle in Piker’s Lodge, Gowna, Co. Cavan, on September 30, with a vast range of spot prizes and entertainment by the Flood Family Band and the Mad Ass Mules, followed by a DJ.
Everything from a pig, to two days on a digger; plant work; artificial insemination (AI) straws; feed; bedding; fuel; and weekends away has been donated.
Natasha told Agriland that the brain haemorrhage came as a huge shock to the family.
“It happened while he was dosing calves with my brother Cody. He was injecting the animals and started to miss with the needle. He went to collapse and Cody caught him and called the ambulance,” she said.
“He was in an intensive care unit (ICU) for two weeks and then the stroke unit in Mullingar until May where the staff took great care of him and us as a family.
“Since May he has been in the National Rehabilitation Hospital and is doing well. He has got a lot of things back such as his speech and he can swallow, drink fluids and eat,” Natasha said.
“We can’t thank the medical professionals who cared for daddy enough for the incredible gift they have given us in having him fit to come home,” she said.
“He continues to improve but we are hoping to maintain his progressive physio and his rehabilitation when he comes home. He hopes to be home by mid-October, definitely by Christmas.
“We have had work done on the house. We took out the front window and put in accessible doors and concreted everything outside for the fire exit. We also had to build a bathroom and bedroom downstairs.”
The aim is to reconfigure the accommodation so that Declan can have access to the general run of the house. The family would also like to buy an adapted vehicle so that he can get around.
Natasha said the family has been totally overwhelmed by the generous response to the fundraising efforts.
“Close friends, neighbours and customers have been great in organising this fundraiser, helping to renovate our home, visiting daddy and supporting us as a family.
My mammy, Patricia, and my siblings, Rachel, Cody and Katie, are very grateful to everyone and are humbled by the response and generosity which we have been shown.”