Rebecca's Story

When John Quirke, now 55, was diagnosed with MS shortly after he was married, his wife Rebecca became a full-time carer overnight. That life-changing event was all of 23 years ago.

Her daily caring routine is both time consuming and exhausting. Rebecca gets up at 6.45, and switches on the food machine. This feeds John with 100ml of fluid per hour through an abdominal 'peg feed'. Rebecca is on the go for the whole day, feeding John, removing mucus from John's throat with the suction machine, moving him from bed to wheelchair and supervising his activities on the exercise machine.

"We do it for the love of the person, but we hate the job", Rebecca says quite openly.

Rebecca values the supportive role the Carers Association plays in her life. She says, "It has provided me with a voice for one thing, and also provides me with a home respite service and regular contact with the Centre Manager. He visits the house on a monthly basis. It is great to have that listening ear. That is what keeps me going - knowing there are people who want to come and visit us and who understand how we feel."