Limerick man given two hours to live now on long road to recovery as family thank medics who saved him
The family of man struck by sepsis and facing a long road to recovery has thanked the public for their response to an online fundraising page, which was set up to assist his medical costs and return home.
Brian Treacy, 46, who runs an artisan butchers at Ardnacrusha in Limerick underwent emergency surgery at University Hospital Limerick two weeks ago and treated in the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit after he was diagnosed with sepsis and given two hours to live, his devastated family revealed.
After having undergone several surgeries, Mr Treacy was moved from ICU to the High Dependency Unit (HDU) and eventually a General Ward last week but will continue to face a hard battle to return to work, his family said.
An online GoFundMe account set up by Mr Treacy’s brother, Barry Treacy, had raised almost €8,000 at the time of this article going to print.
“Every so often I break down and I say to myself, ‘is this really happening’, then I call myself to one side and I say, ‘we still have him, he is still alive’”, said Mr Treacy’s mother, Chrissie Treacy.
Praising the doctors and nurses and the quick-thinking actions of her daughter Louise, also a qualified nurse, Ms Treacy added: “Brian is alive, that’s all I keep saying to myself, that’s what I’m holding on to. I just want to be able to bring him home,” she said.
Becoming emotional, Ms Treacy, from Clonlara, described how doctors told her Brian had only two hours to live when he arrived at UHL with his sister Louise: “The surgeon met us and brought us into a room to tell us about surgery and said Brian had a 40% chance of survival.
“He was sedated and on a ventilator from Sunday to the following Saturday in ICU, and then they took out ventilator and he was transferred into HDU, so he has a long road to go yet.”
“He has had four surgeries and he may have to go for skin grafts. When the surgeon said he had a 40% chance of survival, I looked at the girls and we burst out crying, he had about two hours to live, if he had been two hours late getting to the hospital he was gone, so he is a lucky man.”
Chrissie, her husband Paddy, and their children Louise, Jennifer, Barry, Linda, have put their shoulders to the wheel in support of Brian having valiantly kept the doors of his butchers open for the past few days and thanking Brian’s loyal customer base for their continued support.
“He loves it, he loves his customers and having the craic with them,” added Ms Treacy. Mr Treacy’s brother Barry Treacy, who set up their online fundraising page, warned how his brother’s infection “happened so fast”.
“Had (Brian) left it a few hours more before going into hospital, or had the doctors and nurses not acted so decisively, he likely would not be with us today, a thought I cannot bear,” Mr Treacy said.
Barry Treacy said his stricken brother “never asks for anything, but he is in need of help from those who care about him, or who can relate to his situation and are in a position to help”.
After being brought out of an induced coma, Brian Treacy managed to write a short but heartfelt message to his family telling them, “I love you all”.
To make a donation to the Brian Treacy Go Fund Me account, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/brian-treacy[2]
References
- ^ Mayhem on Dublin’s M50 motorway as gardai bring traffic to a standstill for miracle kitten rescue (www.irishmirror.ie)
- ^ https://www.gofundme.com/f/brian-treacy (www.gofundme.com)