89 year-old Limerick nursing home resident enjoys new tandem bike

“WE SHARE a passion for cycling and when I saw the tandem bike for sale, I knew that was it!” says Maura O' Sullivan, director of nursing and owner of St Gobnait’s Nursing Home in Ballyagran, Limerick.

Referring to 89-year-old Mike O’Keeffe, a resident of St Gobnait's, Maura and Mike both love cycling. Mike had lost some confidence in himself to cycle alone and Maura, knowing how much he used to love cycling, wanted to change this.

“I was shopping in the city one day and saw the tandem for sale - I knew this was it, this was the answer to my prayer!,” Maura said.

“I bought the bike and when I brought it back to show Mike, he was very excited. We used it together and afterwards, Mike gave me a big hug and said ‘you have made my day’.”

Mike agreed, saying he was ‘thrilled’. The two are practising around the yard of the nursing home before they head further afield and tackle a nearby road.

“Mike has been cycling all his life as he never learned to drive. It was a form of functionality, as well as an enjoyment for him,” Maura said.

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“It was a means for getting around for Mike, as he used to cycle to Ballingarry for his messages everyday but as well as this, would do charity cycles in his younger years.

“I myself am a member of a cycling club and knew this would be a way for me and Mike to bond, but also a way of getting us out - Mike is 89 years ‘young’ and is as active as can be!”

Mike went to live at St Gobnait’s in April, and says that he still loves to exercise, despite being ‘89 and a half’: “I go dancing, whenever I get the chance, and I walk around the gardens of the nursing home every morning.”

The two can work together with their different abilities, with Mike pedalling on the back and Maura mostly steering. Mike said that he felt ‘safer’ with Maura and that their first journey outside of the nursing home will hopefully be to their local shop in Ballyagran.

Describing their love of cycling as a ‘mutual passion’, Maura went on to say that while nursing homes and elderly care facilities often get negative publicity, the 20 residents at St Gobnait's are all ‘like family members’.

“Because a person comes to live in a nursing home, life doesn’t have to stop - life can get better,” Maura said.

“There is a way around everything, so when I got to know Mike and his love of cycling, I wanted to bring it back into his life in some way. The tandem was the answer.

“Mike is so happy living here, he has made friends in me and other residents - life can be really special in a nursing home as well, and it is sad that this is overlooked at times.”