A 22-YEAR-OLD woman who was left severely disabled by a rare brain disease she claimed she contracted while working in a pet shop, will finally get to go home tomorrow after spending almost three years in hospital.
Limerick woman Patricia Ingle, who is a nightly patient at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital, will have spent a total of 1,069 nights in hospital when she finally leaves this weekend.
Last month she secured a multimillion euro High Court settlement, which will help her receive the rehabilitation care she needs in the UK.
In her action she claimed she suffered her injuries after contracting chlamydia psittacosis – an airborne infection which can be transferred from birds to humans – while working at the Petmania store, Ennis Road, Limerick, in 2008.
Ms Ingle, who is permanently on a ventilator and uses a wheelchair, is determined to be able to walk again.
She attributes her progress to the care she has received from her parents Pat and Annette and her sisters Kiera and Melissa who have been trying to bring her home as often as possible over the past number of months.
“I am delighted we are finally going to be able to bring her home for good. It was a killer bringing her back to hospital every night. We couldn’t be a complete family,” said her mother Annette.
Ms Ingle, who was in a coma for five weeks after she first became ill, says she will miss the staff at the high dependency and intensive care units of the Mid-Western Regional Hospital but nevertheless is thrilled to be finally going home for good.
She will travel to the Oxford Centre for Enablement later this month where she will begin intensive rehabilitation treatment.
Before she leaves for Oxford, the young woman is planning a massive fancy dress-themed “welcome home party” at her parents’ house in Murroe, Co Limerick.
“I’m planning to dress up as Cinderella because I don’t have to go back [to the hospital] at midnight,” Ms Ingle said.