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CHRISTMAS 2014 WAS a quiet one in the Curran house. It was just three months since they lost six-year-old Erin, a little girl who had fought on despite a prognosis from doctors that she would not live past two years of age.
As a baby, Erin had been diagnosed with Miller Dieker, a rare syndrome that deletes the chromosome responsible for brain growth. She began to become very ill when she was two-years-old and that is when the Curran family first went to LauraLynn.
Over the years that followed, the charity provided an invaluable respite service to Tara, her husband Derek and their two other children Finn and Aoife.
“They provided us with emergency respite when my dad passed away in April 2014. We were very stuck at the time and there are no words to say what that meant to us at the time. It was just an extra stressful time in our lives,” Curran explained.
Erin was very sick at the time, she had just been discharged from the hospital in Drogheda and was very unwell. She was in the last months of her life at that stage – not that we were aware of that at the time. That fell over Easter week, which I knew was a horrendous time for LauraLynn to be providing respite because everybody wants it during school breaks. They took Erin into one of their emergency beds for a week to allow us to deal with the wake and funeral arrangements and to give us breathing space afterwards.
‘The numb period’
When Erin was coming to the end of her life, her family decided they wanted her to die in her own home and when they arrived back from Temple Street hospital, nurses from LauraLynn were already there, waiting to give their support.
“On the last evening – they do this for all the families – they did a canvas painting of a tree, with all of our hand prints as the leaves. It’s a treasured piece from them.”
Erin passed away in September 2014 and three months later, the family was facing its first Christmas without her, and their first Christmas without Tara’s father.
“We were still very much in the numb period, where you don’t know whether you’re coming or going.”
On Christmas Eve, the family received a visit from one of the home care nurses from the hospice. She presented them with a framed word butterfly, with words that represented the little girl.
Her curly hair, her big smile, her brother and sister’s names, little toys she loved, things she loved to do. It was such a thoughtful and personalised gift for us. It really lifted us on Christmas Eve, which was quite a sad day for us.
Christmas will “never be the same” for the family, she said.
“There is a child missing in this house and that’s very unnatural and always very sad. I miss her every day and it’s times like this that you really struggle, it’s just an incredibly difficult time. The other children keep us going and you try to focus on the memories you have and remember those Christmases we had together.”
“All you want is for people to remember them,” Curran said. “A lot of people find it difficult to talk to us about her because they think it upsets us. It upsets us more not to talk about her because then it’s like she was never here.”
LauraLynn provides a number of aftercare supports to grieving families after they have lost their children. This Christmas, the charity said it will be reaching out to families just like the Currans, to let them know that they remember their children and they are still here for them.
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Instant 3 years in jail.
Let them do their job.
Spot on. All emergency workers should be protected and allowed do their job.
Out government voted against doing mandatory jail time …. So it’s going to continue to happen unfortunately
why just emergency workers Joe?
Nurses should be in front line for same scheme. Not alone should firefighters be compensated the should have the right to turn fire hoses on the thugs that attack them.
Well said frank
That seems perfectly reasonable. Everyone is entitled to a safe working environment and if that can’t be provided they deserve compensation.
3 years in prison and a 25 thousand euro fine, if they are under 18 hit the parents for it, even if they have to take it from their welfare.
The 25k fine would be a waste of time , if they are trying to assault firefighters I’m guessing they don’t have that kind of money
No but % of earnings or loss of all welfare would focus the mind
Thats my point, If it cost the parents they might try teach them right from wrong.Some parents do try but some just let the kids run wild.A teenager does not start by trying to hurt the emergencey services, lm sure you will find smashed windows and annoying neighbours started it off.If it was niped in the bud at that stage then we would not have this problem.
I agree fine them and prison time but applying the penalty to parents…not sure about that one. You strive to bring children up with proper morals, respect for the law and others- but if you’re dependent is say 16/ 17, which is old enough to know right from wrong I would not like to have to pay €25,000.
Give them something akin to a student loan and let them repay it when they’ve copped on to themselves.
This might give the government the kick up the arse they need in legislating against these attacks
Assault is already illegal.
Not only is assault on the statue books but also a separate offence of assault on a peace officer which was extended to all emergency workers I.e nurses, doctors, paramedics and fire fighters.
it should be an automatic 10yrs for anybody that attacks any kind of emergency personnel
10 years jail and compulsory neutering.
I cannot agree more
They deserve it.
Why is this scheme only being proposed for firefighters in Dublin? Should it be in place for firefighters country wide?
Please can we bring in some form of Judge Dredd justice
Try telling a judge to give compo to a Garda, nurse or Firefighter. Dream on guys they don’t give a damn about any of ya….
This should apply to all nurses not just psych nurses
Compulsory jail time of 3 years with no remission
How about the guards and courts step in to make sure the little f’n scobies don’t do it? This claim for everything you can get society is going too far And SIPTU! !?? Don’t even start me. Overpayed and redundant union that should not have 1 member after the shafting they’ve achieved for their loyal supporters.
Yeah, unbelievable! A trade union trying to make sure its members are compensated for injuries at work! Whatever next???
The only way the government will get really serious about preventing assaults on emergency workers is if it starts to cost them more to do nothing than it costs to do something. And let’s see SERIOUS sentencing for anyone who attacks emergency workers. What kind of scut would attack a firefighter or ambulance driver?
Assume penalty for attacker not tax payer unless siptu want to contribute
I’m sorry guys but have to disagree. Where does this stop… its not only Fire Fighters that get assaulted, how about Nurses, Doctors, Social Welfare staff, bar workers, restaurant staff, security guards, teachers etc… Every worker that deals with the public are potential targets for assault. This is the public sector just looking for extra cash any way they can get it. The answer is simply jail the offender, that is adequate compensation.
So a firefighter gets seriously assaulted, say needed stitches on his face leaving his face permanently disfigured. You agree that he should receive no compensation what so ever.
As it is any employee (public or private)can take his employer to court if he is assaulted. This compensation scheme is designed to prevent it going to court in the first place and saving all parties (except lawyers) the money and hassle. It is already in place for Garda and should be for all front line workers who are subjected to this kind of assault on a regular basis. Before anyone says it NO. We didn’t sign up for rocks to be thrown at us.
Cormac, that’s exactly what I’m saying. If this scenario happened while on a night out in the pub, would you be compensated…..no. The tax payer is broke…. There is no pot of gold anymore….. The tax payer pays for the medics, hospital, and medication. Would you prefer if we gave an option to either compensate for an injury or fix the injury. I know what most would select. The old Fainna fail / tiger economy mind set needs to be expunged. The free money days are over.
To little to late. No longer represent the worker anywhere. Go away
Choo, chop, I can hear the gravy train.
So why only Dublin firefighters??? Would firefighters in the retained service not be entitled to compensation for being assaulted? IFESA looking after the full time again!
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