Limerick mother of 21-year-old who tragically died says Minister's apology is "too little, too late"

THE MOTHER of the late Eve Cleary, who died within hours of being discharged from University Hospital Limerick (UHL), has said an apology from the Minister for Health is “too little, too late.”

Melanie Cleary has been campaigning in her daughter's name and memory, since not long after she died in 2019, at the age of 21.  

She received an apology from the Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill this month, which she said has “almost the exact same wording” as the one she received from UHL. 

Mrs Cleary lost her daughter on July 21, 2019, after she had spent 17 hours in the emergency department. She died from a blood clot, just hours after being discharged from the hospital. 

Mrs Cleary said that even though Eve is gone seven years this summer, all of this causes her to relive the pain of the loss. 

“It's painful to relive it again and again and again,” she said. 

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Mrs Cleary met with the Minister in August and asked for a State apology.

“The apology she gave us - we had the same from UHL last July with almost the exact same wording,” Mrs Cleary said. 

She added: “For us and for my children, we just wanted for somebody to say they were sorry and that an investigation has been opened up into Eve's death and there was no investigation.”

“It felt like we were being strung along,” she added. 

She stressed that she would have liked a public apology for the sake of Eve's siblings. 

Mrs Cleary said that the “treatment of this has been disgraceful” and she added that communication between their family and the previous management of UHL was “horrendous.”

“It has never been recognised that Eve's death could have been prevented,” Mrs Cleary said. 

“She was 21 - she was healthy until she went out there (to UHL),” she said. 

In the apology, which has been seen by the Limerick Leader, the Minister said: “I recognise and accept that the manner in which you were interacted with and communicated with by the UL Hospital Group in the aftermath of losing Eve fell far below what should have been expected, and indeed far below what you deserved particularly at such a distressing time.”

The apology continued: “These inadequacies undoubtedly caused additional hurt and distress for your family at a time of unimaginable grief and over the past few difficult years.

“We may never know exactly how many lives the Eve Protocol will save, or how many people's quality of life will be preserved because of your work.”

Mrs Cleary pointed out that almost from the beginning there have been delays and issues in relation to communications and information being relayed. 

She said initially they were told there would not even be an inquest, which is the only opportunity for a family  to hear a timeline and exact evidence from people who were involved in Eve's care. 

“Eve was a great girl, she had a thing about telling the truth and her name has done so much now with the protocol - Eve probably saves lives every day - that legacy should be respected by them,” Mrs Cleary said.