Appeal launched to ‘Bring Alice Home’ to Frenchpark

Alice Hetherton was a kind, bubbly person, that lit up the room but the 62 -year-old carer’s life changed in an instant on a May night in 2023 when she collapsed while talking to her brother on the phone after suffering a brain bleed and an aneurysm.

Since then her life has been one of residing in hospitals and since last July she has been living in a Longford nursing home. But the Frenchpark resident wants to come home and is adamant that she does not want to remain in a nursing home.

Her partner of 35 years, Des Deegan, also believes that her mental health is deteriorating because of this and has now set up a gofundme page in a bid to raise the necessary funds for her to return to her beloved house.

The two originally met in London and after living there for 25 years decided to sell their house and return home to Ireland. They originally moved to Kerry and then to Ballinlough but finally bought a home in Frenchpark.

Originally from Oldcastle in County Meath, Alice has worked caring for others for many years and had been working in homes in Roosky and Carrick -on-Shannon before tragedy struck.

On the night of Alice’s aneurysm she was rushed to Sligo University Hospital but was immediately transferred to Beaumont Hospital. There they performed neurosurgery to stop the bleed and equally deal with the aneurysm. The surgeon at the time noted it was one of the worse cases he had seen.

She remained there for six weeks and then returned to Sligo University Hospital where she remained for eight months. However, according to Des they really didn’t have the facilities to deal with her myriad of physical issues and after a lot of pressure from the family she obtained a place at the National Rehabilitation Unit where she spent another five to six months.

Des said that although she probably needed more rehabilitation it was decided to move her to a nursing home.

During all this time 72-year-old Des visits her every day, travelling up and down to Sligo, Dublin and Longford and spends two to three hours with Alice.

He said: “Her mobility is very restricted and she will require continued home supports and therapies. Alice is frustrated that the care she is currently receiving in a nursing home could equally be carried out at home. Mentally Alice is very aware, but she requires round the clock care and all she wants is to be able to come home.” However, the issue is that they live in a two storey four bedroom home with all the bedrooms and bathrooms upstairs and only a small narrow toilet downstairs. There is no wheelchair access and Alice would need a hoist to be able to take her in and out of bed and her chair.

But Alice pleads with Des every day to take her home. At the moment he pays €350 towards her nursing home fees while the Roscommon County Council pays €1,800.

It is estimated that a new extension would be needed to be built onto the home in order for Alice to be able to return home and this is costed at €60,000 to €70,000.

Des said as a pensioner there is no likelihood of him being able to obtain a loan for the works and although it is likely he would be able to get a grant the issue is that the works have to be done before any grant aid is issued. He is basically caught in a catch 22.

He is hoping now that the gofundme will allow the works to be carried out and Alice can come home. He said that any excess of funds after the project is finished would be donated to charity or go towards helping others in Alice’s situation.

For more information log onto to gofundme and search Bring Alice Home.