Mayo village rallies to support a community champion
Breege Canavan is a beloved member of the local community in Belcarra
The family of Belcarra woman Breege Canavan has said they are looking forward to welcoming home their beloved wife, mother and grandmother but have been met with frustration in their efforts to secure sufficient home help hours.
In October 2023, Breege faced an acute medical condition that has had permanent, life-changing consequences affecting her mobility and functionality.
The Canavan family is facing significant challenges in adapting their home, securing transportation and providing full-time care.
Breege spent a number of weeks receiving treatment and physiotherapy in Dublin before moving to the Sacred Heart Hospital in Castlebar and is expected home in the coming weeks.
Her son Alan told the that it has been a battle to try and ensure that his mother gets the support she needs from home help. Alan and his three younger brothers Patrick, Mark and Evan have been working tirelessly to put structures in place for their mother's long-awaited return home.
“We had a meeting with Home Help services who only offered seven hours in the week. This was after it was said that she needed two-person care 24/7,” he said. “That was a tough one for us to take and we knew it would be hard to see her coming home after that but hopefully the hours get up to something respectable.
“Home Help is finding it difficult to find staff, especially in this area. Even if they committed to 30 hours in the week, they said they would find it hard to staff the hours.
“There is a little bit of a battle to get that set up right for her but it would make a huge difference for her at home. They’re working on it at the minute and she is supposed to be done in Cuan Caitriona by May and it should be all in place by then,” he said.
In addition to this, there has been a huge ongoing effort to adapt Breege’s home and ensure it is ready for her return.
Alan said they have made a new driveway up to the front of the house and have remodeled two vacant bedrooms, one for Breege and the other as a shower-room. Doors in the house also had to be widened, the sitting room is to be extended and they are awaiting the installation of an electric ceiling hoist.
“In time we’d hope to adapt the kitchen as well,” said Alan. “In Cuan Caitriona, she has had brilliant physios and they have had her using a special kettle that can operate one-handed. She can butter herself up a sandwich as well.
“These are the things that we’ll be looking into after she is home and things settle down. There is so much modern technology now. We’re looking at voice-activated equipment that she could make phone calls or open the blinds and we’d hope to adapt all this smart technology around her.”
There really is no place like home for Breege and her home in Belcarra is close to her heart.
“When she came around in the Beaumont after three or four weeks, they put her into a wheelchair,” said Alan. “And she said, ‘bring me to Belcarra, I want to get back to Belcarra!’ Belcarra was on the mind from the start.”
It takes a very quick look around to see that Belcarra village is all the better for having had Breege Canavan working behind the scenes with its state-of-the-art playground, walking facilities, modern community centre, world-class handball alley, astroturf and sports pitch all a testament to the work that Breege and other members of the community have done over the years.
“She loved that work, she was dedicated to it,” said Alan. “Most nights, she’d be going to a meeting. She would have us fed and be gone out again.
“She was proud of everything she achieved here. The Belcarra Lotto was a big one for her. It was a huge social thing every weekend for her to head to all the pubs around Belcarra, Manulla and Balla selling tickets making sure Belcarra was getting the money for the projects that you can see now.”
Then when Breege, who gave so much to Belcarra, was in a difficult situation, the village of Belcarra gave back. A GoFundMe fundraiser has raised over €75,000 to date to help support Breege’s return home.
“She was in [the National Rehabilitation Centre] in Dun Laoghaire for the real heavy physio for 12 weeks and we still had hope she would get movement back in her left leg or left hand but we knew after a month there would be no miracle,” said Alan. “That’s when the Belcarra community got on to us to say they were going ahead with a fundraiser no matter what because they knew she’d need lifetime care.”
Emotions were high as the donations started to pour in.
“We couldn’t believe the response. The first night we were in tears watching the fundraiser go up. People were putting in hundreds. It is hard living nowadays, €100 can be hard to come by, but people were digging deep for one of their own, for a real community person,” said Alan.
Over the next few weeks, the generosity continued as the proceeds of the Belcarra Card Game went towards the fund, as did the proceeds of three weeks of sales of the Manulla FC lotto, a club with whom the Canavan family has a long association. A table quiz at the Drum Inn in Clogher was a massive success, raising over €5,000 to support Breege and her family.
Alan said all the family are looking forward to having Breege back in her home environment.
“It will be great to get her out home and see how it goes. She has been away for a long time. She hasn’t been down the hall of her own house since October 2023. She might settle in great and have her home comforts back once again,” he said.
A Benefit Dance in aid of Breege will take place at Breaffy House Hotel on July 4.
The venue has been kindly offered by Breaffy House management free of charge for the night and local entertainers have also waived their fees so that all funds raised will go towards supporting Breege’s return home and ongoing medical care.
The acts taking to the stage on the night include Concord Entertainment, Tomas Walsh and Pete & Dean. There will also be a raffle and an auction taking place.
Tickets will cost €20 and will be sold door to door in Belcarra in the coming weeks and will also be available on the door on the night.
Donations can also be made on the ‘Support Breege Canavan’s Return Home’ page on www.gofundme.com.
