In the first of this 3-part series, we hear the stories of three brave residents of Northern Ireland who lost loved ones in care homes during different periods of the COVID-19 pandemic. With these first-hand accounts, you will learn that as a direct result of a COVID-only response, life for the residents and their family members was both terrifying, and at times, inhumane. Waving at loved ones through a window, not being able to touch, hold or kiss them on visits and having to beg many times just to get to see them.
In this first episode, you will hear from Lisa, who lost her mum and dad in a care home just five days apart. In this gut-wrenching story you will hear how her mum was blind since she was a young girl and yet at times Lisa could only view her through a window. Her father also suffered from a rare illness and he too had gone blind and thus relied upon her touch to communicate.
Now Lisa has the opportunity to tell her story, in her own words and in her own time, so that her parent’s suffering will get the recognition it deserves and so that she too can be given a voice having felt alone for so long.