HOW DOES a woman find the strength to care for an autistic son, a daughter with epilepsy, another with cerebral palsy and a blind husband?
“I have no other choice,” said Joan Baldwin, a mother of nine from Newbridge, Co Kildare.
Ms Baldwin was one of five people celebrated yesterday at the annual Carer of the Year Awards, which are presented by the Carers Association.
She received the Leinster area award in recognition of the care she gives her daughters Patricia (42) and Linda (38), her son William (40) and her husband, also named William, who lost his sight six years ago.
Ms Baldwin said her duties begin at 7am and continue until she tries to go to bed at 10pm, but that she is often up assisting her children during the night.
She said another daughter occasionally helps out or takes her for a meal, but that she receives little assistance and has next to no time to herself. “I look after them all day,” she said. “It’s constant.”
Anne McGrath from Thurles, Co Tipperary, won the overall award for her efforts in looking after her daughter Tamara (10) who has Canavan’s disease, a rare and fatal genetic condition that leaves children severely mentally and physically disabled.
Ms McGrath, who has lost two children to the disease – David when he was one year old and Tamara’s twin brother Mark at six years – said Tamara was “the light of her life” and “a lovely placid girl”. She has three other children.
Ms McGrath, who also won the Munster award, said caring for Tamara was a day-long duty, beginning at 7am, as everything had to be done for her but that she simply “has to get on with it”.
“When I lost David I was devastated and thought it would never happen again,” she said. “When we lost Mark I wanted to lock myself away, but when I miss him I hug Tamara, she’s part of him as a twin, and a very special little girl.”
Young carer of the year Kelley Farrell (13) from Daingean, Co Offaly, was nominated for the award by her father Seán to pay tribute to how the student took care of her mother Nuala. Nuala has suffered from serious back problems for the last four years and has failed to recover despite undergoing a series of operations.
Kelley said her average day begins at 7am when she makes breakfast and helps her mother before school. She then makes lunch and helps with the cleaning when she returns. “I’m not exhausted, I’m used to it,” Kelley said. “I love doing it for somebody who I care about and love.”
Carolyn Akintola, from Tallaght, won the Dublin award for the help she provides for her mother Elsie, who has osteoporosis, arthritis and Parkinson’s disease and receives dialysis three times a week for end-stage kidney failure.
Carolyn, who could not attend the event yesterday as she was undergoing a knee operation, uses a wheelchair and has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which affects tissues and joints.
“She’s the best in the world to me,” Elsie said of her daughter.
Niamh Simon of Boyle, Co Roscommon, won the award for Connacht and Ulster, for the care she gives her son Tommy (4), who had serious heart and neurological problems after being born prematurely.
