Limerick Person of the Month: Family of the late John Fitzgerald continue his journey

A LIMERICK family who completed a virtual walk to Perth to raise funds for the Intensive Care Unit at University Hospital Limerick, have been named the Limerick Persons of the Month.

The family of the late John Fitzgerald of Crecora accepted the award in honour of the popular Limerick man who passed away peacefully “in the wonderful care of all the staff at University Hospital Limerick”.

The 67-year-old contracted Covid-19 over Christmas and took his last breath on January 27 with his devoted family at his bedside.

In the midst of their grief, the extended Fitzgerald family decided to organise a virtual journey from the front door of John’s home in Crecora to the front door of his son Mark’s home in Perth, to raise money for those who cared for John in his final days. 

A Journey for John raised in the region of €30,000 for staff and patients in the ICU. Around 100 family and friends in Limerick and as far away as America and Australia took part in the 15,051kms walk over 24 days.

The staff at the ICU were encouraged to put together a wishlist to include materials which would be of benefit to them in their important roles. 

And thanks to the huge generosity of the public those items - including iPads for patients and care packs for the staff - are now being used in the ICU. Many local businesses kindly donated various items.

The late John Fitzgerald was married to Eileen and they have three children - Simon, Mark and Kelly. Originally from Mungret, John moved to Crecora but he was loved wherever he went.

“He really believed he was going to jump out of the bed and come home - that’s the type of person he was. He had a great outlook, he really did,” said Eileen at the Person of the Month presentation at the Clayton Hotel.

John was in the hospital for a total of 27 days. He was in the ICU for 23 days and spent nine days on a ventilator.  “We’ve seen the intensive care unit first-hand and they were amazing,” said Eileen.

“They looked after John no end but us as well.  Dr Motherway was amazing. Every evening they would ring to let me know how John was doing and then ask me how I was doing. I couldn’t get over this,” said Eileen. “They had their hands full with patients but to ask me how I was doing and how my children were doing made such a difference.”

“They were under serious pressure then,” John’s son Simon pointed out. “We can’t say enough about them, the medical staff.”

It was Simon’s cousins, the Quinns - Ellen, Denise, Julie and Stephanie - who came up with the idea of the virtual walk to Perth.

“My dad had never got a chance to go over and see Jackson, his youngest grandson. He had been over to Australia a few times but never had the chance to see Jackson,” Simon explained. 

Kelly’s son Kai, 3, who was the apple of John’s eye ran through a ribbon in Mungret Park which marked the end of the walk in Ireland while Mark with his son Jackson, nine months, did likewise in Australia.

An award-winning bookbinder in his early working years, John worked for a time with the Limerick Leader. He was a retired crane driver and was very involved in Crecora-Manister GAA club. He designed the first Crecora crest. He loved history, genealogy and travelling. 

While John had been diagnosed with COPD  (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) it never presented as an issue in his day-to-day life. John was conscious up to the point he went on the ventilator and was put in an induced coma.

“It just wasn’t happening for him,” said Eileen. “They tried every machine known to man.”

While all his immediate family were at his bedside in UHL when he passed away, sadly, Mark couldn't get home from Australia. “Unfortunately, Mark had to witness dad dying on video,” said Kelly, her voice breaking in grief. 

“That was really tough,” said Eileen, “but having said that we were with him and a lot of families didn’t have that.”

The Fitzgerald family wish to sincerely thank all those who either supported or participated in the walk and also wish to thank the many businesses who donated iPads and the contents of the 200 care packs.

“Sinead O’Brien was amazing to get sponsors on board, and our extended family have been so good. We want to thank anybody who donated. We can’t thank everyone enough,” said Eileen.

“It gave us a focus,” said Simon of the endeavour.  “We had some fun times and it gave us something to smile about and think of  Dad.” 

The Limerick Person of the Month awards are sponsored by the Limerick Leader, media agency Southern, and the Clayton Hotel.