Longford stroke survivor hails Irish Heart Foundation as 'a lifesaver'

Bernadette Quinn from Killoe suffered a stroke in 1983. Then in 2019, while working in a women’s centre in Longford, Bernadette experienced weakness in the left arm and fatigue.
Although nothing showed up in a hospital scan, she was convinced she had suffered a second stroke. Following her first stroke, she saw a newspaper ad about the Irish Heart Foundation’s in-person stroke support group opening in Longford.

“It took me a while to pluck up the courage to go. But it was heaven - to go in and meet other stroke survivors,” said Bernadette.
The support had many benefits: “I also realised that the fatigue was related to my stroke from listening to others. It was great to know I wasn’t on my own any more. The Irish Heart Foundation was a lifesaver. It was brilliant to have them.”

Bernadette continues to engage with IHF: “I still attend the group; I’ve used the Nurse Support Line and I’ve done various courses with the Irish Heart Foundation; the Patient Champions Programme, Peer to Peer support course, and friendship calls to more recent stroke survivors.
“The people I speak to feel alone and don’t know where to turn. I encourage them to contact the Irish Heart Foundation and to join a local stroke support group.”
The Irish Heart Foundation has launched a new drive to bolster State funding for services. Longford people are being urged to lobby TDs and Senators to sign a pledge to support Irish Heart Foundation patient support services.

It's estimated that 5,000 people in Longford are living with cardiovascular disease. For many, support provided by the charity is the only help they receive after a life-changing heart event, heart failure, stroke or other cardiac conditions.
The practical, social and emotional support services begin when patients leave hospital and continue for as long as they are needed.

The Irish Heart Foundation currently receives just 8.6% of this to fund patient support services nationwide, which it says is inadequate to help the current volume of patients.
The services reduce costs for the State every year by supporting patients to continue living in their homes rather than requiring nursing home care or being readmitted to hospital.
Only a fraction of this work is State-funded, says the charity’s Director of Advocacy and Patient Support, Chris Macey.

“Nationally, 80,000 heart and stroke patients are discharged from hospital every year, or one every seven minutes, in many cases to a bleak and uncertain future,” he said.
“One in three of all stroke patients returning home are being referred into our services, whilst we are also supporting thousands of heart patients.”
The Irish Heart Foundation provides counselling, nurse-led needs assessments, weekly support calls, back-to-work programmes, fatigue management, peer-to-peer support services, social interaction and online exercise groups.

They want people to ask their local representatives to sign an online pledge on irishheart.ie/advocacy to ensure €1.2million in crucial annual funding is made available.
Once they sign the pledge, elected representatives’ names will appear on irishheart.ie/advocacy/ and they are also asked to share the pledge on their websites and social media.