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MARTINA COX HAS described the emotional moment when she saw her husband Sean walk again for the first time since a vicious attack left him with life-changing injuries five years ago.
Sean (57) received serious brain injuries following an unprovoked assault by Roma fans outside Anfield before Liverpool’s Champions League semi-final against the Italian club in April 2018.
In a programme on his recovery on RTÉ’s Prime Time last night, the family also called for the government to provide greater support to home carers.
Sean has recently started a new exoskeleton therapy in Dublin City University (DCU). The innovative treatment allows him to walk upright with the aid of a robotic skeleton.
“[It was] very emotional, really, really emotional to see him,” Martina told RTÉ’s Miriam O’Callaghan.
“He actually started in a sitting position and then he just stood up and then [just kinda] walked towards me. And even the look on his own face – it’s so good. We don’t know what is going to come out of this but psychologically it’s really good for him.”
During the interview at their Meath home, Martina and Sean reflected on his rehabilitation five years on since the attack near Anfield.
Martina said she doesn’t dwell on the anniversary with the family simply wanting to move on.
“Life is too short as well. We are just trying to move on, get the most out of life. Sean, he is a relatively young man still,” she said.
“We want to have really good memories. We are starting to go out a little bit more, we’ve gone on holidays. We just want to do more of those things.”
She added: “In sickness and in health, those words, they are so powerful. There was never a second thought I was going to do anything else but look after him.”
Sean has a number of carers who come to the house during the week to support him and Martina, and she feels the government need to be doing more to help with this vital service that carers provide for families like theirs.
“Home care is particularly tricky at the minute, it hasn’t been consistent. Sean’s needs are high, recently a lot of the hours are not met, and this is down to the fact that there are not enough carers,” Martina said.
“The demand is really, really high for both disability and the elderly in the home but the supply of carers is just not there because I think what they are being paid is too low. I think the government need to definitely look at investing more money into this area.”
The full interview can be found here on the RTÉ Player.
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leglaise it tax it and control it and watch the country better it’s self from the extra revenue from it look at the likes of America and put 1 step forward not 10 steps back as normal
@Mick Mccabe: “look at the likes of America” with rose tinted glasses?
@Mick Mccabe: Good idea and use the money to match the plant pots in Grafton Street that are in north Dublin.
@Mick Mccabe: Amen.
@Mick Mccabe: is that not just for medicinal use in the US?
@GerryCummins: “The non-medical use of cannabis is legal in 9 states (Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington) plus the District of Columbia, and decriminalized in another 13 states plus the U.S. Virgin Islands.”
@Mick Mccabe: if they legalized big pharma industry would collapse that is what it is all about money..
Ive never seen a stoner attack anything at 3 am other than a burger, yet perfectly legal to down a gut full of vodka n redbull and strut out the club like your connor mcgregor looking for trouble! Some logic
@Jonathan Whelan: seen plenty that couldnt string a sentence together though….you know wharra mean man..yeah man…
@GerryCummins: true enough, but they aint the ones clogging up A&E’s and urinating n vomiting after clubs in a town near you!
Once again, Gardaí resources being wasted on combatting something that should be legal, regulated, and taxed.
@Todd Hebert: also, were it legal these growhouses wouldn’t exist
@Todd Hebert:
The Gardai did the right thing to shut down this criminal enterprise run id imagine not by cheech and chong but by gangs. It should of course be legalised so Gardai can target heroin and coke dealers but the political will isnt there. The yanks got it made illegal originally and ironically they are now the ones legalising it.
Legalise the stuff for God’s sake.
Legalise it; refine it, tax it and build hospitals; schools and homes.
Junkies? It’s weed for crying out loud, should be legalized…
2.7 million……stop
I can smell it from here!, anyone out there with menopausal symptoms I would recommend giving it a go!….
I think cannabis should be legal for many medical conditions. The therapeutic window (dose of a drug between a medical effect and a toxic effect) of cannabis is very narrow, that’s why it is used with caution. Any therapeutic drugs – natural or synthetic need to be used with wisdom, not recreation, because all drugs have side effects.
@Ania_on_coffee: I take your point, but you must understand cannabis is lovely.
@Honeybadger197: We should legalize it to everyone because it’s lovely? LOL I’m sure it’s probably lovely yes
@Ania_on_coffee: An occasional bowl is a beautiful thing.
@Honeybadger197:
@Fake Avast: It’s illegal in Ukraine. But some people grow it in the countryside in their backgardens. As for Russia – i don’the know.
@ Ania
I think you are not correct. The difference between medical and toxic effect in cannabis is very wide.
Cannabis does not have a toxic effect on the body unless the dose is huge, More than you could physically take!
Excellent news.
Great
Can you imagine if the country was run by stoners?
Nothing would ever get done.
@nichalo
Yeah man that richard branson and steve jobs never got anything done right
@Niccolo Saccho:
I disagree. Although it’s an individual thing I guess. I tend to use pot mostly whilst doing activities. Not driving of course.
@Niccolo Saccho: totally agree. No rapes, no senseless domestic violence, no pissing puking on the streets.
What horror it would be to live in a country where no such thing would be done!
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