A CLONAKILTY mum whose newborn daughter suffered a horrific scalding injury praised local gardaí after they escorted her and her 16-week-old daughter on her journey to CUH because an ambulance would have taken too long to arrive.
The incident occurred recently when one of Kathryn Brown’s newborn twins, Croía, suffered a serious burn injury to her chest following a scalding from a coffee cup at home, on what was meant to be Croía and sister Caoimhe’s special christening day.
Speaking to The Southern Star, Kathryn said that when she raised the alarm, she was told that an ambulance would take over an hour to reach them from Bantry.
‘I had completed paediatric first aid training, so I knew to put her in a bath of cool water for 20 minutes.
‘I drove to SouthDoc but they were unable to do anything, and traffic was really heavy. I rang Clonakilty Garda Station in a panic and gardaí Joan O’Sullivan and Trish Grimes turned up at our house and escorted my husband, Croía, and I beyond Innishannon,’ said Kathryn.
‘I was told in CUH that without the first aid and the assistance given by Gda O’Sullivan and Gda Grimes, my daughter could have been permanently disfigured. I can’t even begin to thank them enough for what they did. Their calmness helped me when I was in a state of worry.’
Little Croía spent a couple of days in the paediatric unit in CUH as 16% of her body was burned. She had been attending for weekly dressings up until two weeks ago.
‘She’s all good now and we were able to have the twins christening last weekend, which was great,’ her mum told The Southern Star.
Sergeant-in-charge at Clonakilty Garda Station, Donal Daly said that Gda O’Sullivan and Gda Grimes are two of their most experienced members.
‘This incident is the latest example of the excellent work carried out by these members on a daily basis and by gardaí in general to assist the public, that may go unheard,’ he said.
