peter
“Ireland and most of the world are in voluntary isolation at the moment. It hasn’t been a week yet and it looks like people are cracking up online. I feel their pain, so I wanted to share a positive story about the light at the end of the tunnel. My little boy, Sonny, was born sick. He has a number of issues including paralyzed vocal cords, Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus. The doctors warned us that he wouldn’t survive with the number of illnesses he has. In fact, he is the only child alive today with this diagnosis. When he was three months old, he had a tracheostomy placed to save his life in Temple Street. With an open airway in his neck, he was a fragile child when he finally came home. We’ve done voluntary lock-downs at home through all of the respiratory viruses and flu seasons. We had to have routines in place every day to protect him. For example, every day when my husband comes home from work, he always enters the house through the back door. He removes his shoes and disinfects them, then he removes all his clothes and put them straight into the washing machine. He heads upstairs, takes a shower and only then, he comes to say hello. At one point, I had spent eight months with my son without leaving the house – that was tough. But after three years of isolation, hand washing, cleaning, sanitising, quizzing guests on their health, refusing visitors, extreme anxiety and fear, Sonny was finally strong enough to have his tracheostomy removed. The happiness on Sonny’s face after the procedure was worth losing our freedom for a while. As Sonny still has a hole in his neck, he is vulnerable now to this Coronavirus, so we are back self-isolating. Again, we have no idea how long it will be for, but now we know that the rewards will outweigh the risks. This too will pass. But to keep the fragile and most vulnerable in our society safe, we need to use our heads and listen to the authorities. After all this, we will not remember the bad stuff, but we will remember the great things we did for each other. Elderly people and children like Sonny won’t survive this virus and they need the help of everyone to stay at home for a little longer.”
This post was highlighted by You the audience. HOD is now open to share your story.
Due to many people self-isolating during this pandemic, I won’t be able to roam the streets in Dublin as I do usually. But I still want to share your amazing, happy and encouraging stories. So, for those of you who may now have some extra time on your hands, I’m asking you to get in touch and send in a short description of your inspiring story by email to sayhi@humansofdublin.ie. If your story is chosen, we would like to get in touch through Skype or Facetime for more details.
Ps. You don’t need to be Irish or even from Dublin to take part in this series