Vital operationsThe intervention of Co Galway nurse and an anonymous Irish businessman have saved a Jamaican mother-of-four from having both of her legs amputated.
Winifred McLeod (42) from Montego Bay in Jamaica is this week recovering after a series of operations were carried out on her badly ulcerated legs at the private Galway Clinic in Doughiska.
She was flown the 6,000 miles from Jamaica to Galway to have the vital surgery carried out after her plight was highlighted by Mountbellew nurse, Pearl Finnegan who has worked on and off in Montego Bay since 1990 helping the sick and the poverty stricken.
Ms Finnegan was working in the Hope Medical Clinic at Montego Bay in November 2003 when Winifred presented there for treatment on her legs.
She said: "I thought I was seeing my first case of leprosy, but it was actually severe varicose ulcers that had been totally neglected over a period of 12 years.
"The only solution they could offer her at the regional hospital there was the total amputation of both of her legs."
Ms Finnegan took photos of Ms McLeod's damaged legs and brought them home to Ireland where she showed them to Ballygar GP Dr Martin Daly.
Dr Daly said he did not feel there was a need for amputation and he arranged for her to be treated at the Galway Clinic.
Meanwhile, Ms Finnegan wrote to a prominent Dublin-based businessman, who wishes to remain anonymous and asked him to sponsor Ms McLeod for medical purposes. Within 24 hours, he rang back and agreed to foot the bill for her treatment.
"In Jamaica, they have to pay for every tablet, every plaster, every dressing. They have to bring their own sheets and pillows into hospital with them and sometimes even their own feeding utensils because unfortunately, it's a country where thieving and stealing is a way of life.
"If you don't work in Jamaica, you don't eat so people are forced by economic necessity into a life of crime," Ms Finnegan said.
Roughly the size of Munster with a population of more than 2.7 million, Jamaica is a grossly overcrowded country. The unemployment rate stands at about 50 per cent, half of the population is illiterate and there is a very high level of violence, crime and poverty.
Since February 24th, Ms McLeod has undergone a series of operations and plastic surgery on her legs at the Galway Clinic which have proved very successful.
She is currently recovering at Ms Finnegan's Mountbellew home where she will stay until she is well enough to travel home later this month.
Ms McLeod said that her legs were healing very well and she was looking forward to returning home to see her children aged from 15 to 24 years. She expressed her immense gratitude to Ms Finnegan, her anonymous sponsor and the staff at the Galway Clinic.
Ms Finnegan highlighted the marvellous care and medical attention that Ms McLeod received from the consultants and nursing staff at the Mother Teresa of Calcutta at the Clinic.
She will be accompanying Ms McLeod back to Jamaica to continue her work in the Hope Medical Clinic and the Hope Hospice for men, women and children dying of Aids.
She usually works in Montego Bay from January to May where she is heavily involved in the area of HIV awareness and prevention.
Anybody who wishes to donate to her fund-raising efforts can contact her directly at (09096) 79410.
