Spotlight

On the Path to a Forever Home

The decision to buy a house is a major one and may come at a time in your life when you feel ready to put down some roots or make an investment for your future. The process is arduous and lengthy from making that initial decision to getting the keys. But for a person with CF, this process is further complicated by the consideration of a life long and unpredictable condition which may make the financial institutions unsure about approving an application from a PwCF. However, this is not always the case. Aine Stafford tells her story of her journey to securing a mortgage protection policy, the foundations of being able to search for her forever home.

I always remember when I was a young child drawing pictures of the house I would love to own and live in when I got older. I never thought of the long and difficult battle I would face when trying to buy a house of my own.

I always thought I would work hard, go to college become a teacher (as that is what I always wanted to be from a young age), save up and buy my own house. If only it were that straight forward.

I was born in South Tipperary General Hospital in Clonmel. However, my stay here was very short-lived as within an hour of being born I was transferred first to Waterford hospital and then straight onto Crumlin Hospital in Dublin, where I spent the first 3 months of my life. I had two life-saving surgeries in my first few weeks of life. One at only 6 days old and the second at 5 weeks. A week after my second surgery, at just six weeks old, it was confirmed for my parents that my life would always be a little different than my older sister’s when I was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis.

Growing up, I never dwelled on this difference and liked to think of myself as like ‘everyone else’. Although I had a life-long illness I tried my best not to let it get in the way of what I wanted to achieve in life. I always seemed to have a lot of plates spinning. From hospital appointments to hospital admissions, maintaining a healthy balance between my studies and a social life was made all the more difficult when I was constantly chasing my tail trying to catch up on schoolwork from classes I had missed, or just trying to keep on top of my daily medications and routines.

Although it was difficult, I was determined not to let anything hold me back from achieving my dream. I worked hard and was successful in obtaining

Living life as a PWCF: On the path to my forever home

enough points to be accepted into Mary Immaculate College to complete my Bachelor of Education degree. Receiving my acceptance letter was a dream come true, and it further solidified my determination and self-belief. My four years in MIC definitely weren’t a walk in the park, but I had very supportive friends, family, lecturers, and of course my Cystic Fibrosis team in Limerick Regional Hospital, who were always incredibly accommodating and ensured my appointments weren’t scheduled when I had lectures.

Upon graduation of the B.Ed., the next challenge that I faced was figuring out how to manage my Cystic Fibrosis as a teacher. At times it has been a struggle and I have spent many nights in hospital correcting stacks of copies and preparing for lessons to in order to try and keep on top of everything. I was fortunate enough to secure a permanent job in Scoil Mhuire Newcastle just a year after graduation. Obtaining this job was such a significant milestone. I was also following in my mother’s footsteps to the extent of teaching in the school that she herself had taught in for 37 years.

2020 was a huge milestone year for my teaching career. I became a permanent member of the staff in Scoil Mhuire Newcastle and obtained an Assistant Principal 2 post in the school.

My partner and I also began renting and living together in 2020 which was another personal milestone. This brought independence not only as an adult but as a person with Cystic Fibrosis. I was now completely responsible for my own medical needs, something my parents would have always helped me with before.

In 2021 my partner and I began to discuss and investigate the process of buying a house. We never imagined how grueling a process it would be. I was very naïve when we began the process and never thought about how difficult it might be for a person with Cystic Fibrosis to buy a house.

We met with a lady in our local bank to chat about how to begin the process and I left the meeting feeling quite deflated. It was the first time I realized that in order to buy a house you obviously have to have [mortgage protection] life insurance and it was quite clear how difficult that would be for me. I went home feeling so upset but I am not one to give up easily, so I began to research it extensively. I contacted Cystic Fibrosis Ireland who were so kind and helpful on the phone. I spoke to other people who found getting life insurance difficult and did a lot of my own research.

The best thing I decided to do was to approach a mortgage advisor. My partner and I met with our mortgage advisor and the process began then. I was not about to let my dream of owning a house slip away, I was willing to do anything I needed to do in order to secure life insurance.

My mortgage advisor and I began to apply for life insurance in February 2022. We applied to five different insurance companies. I filled out all the paperwork and I hoped and prayed that one of these applications would be successful. A few weeks later my mortgage advisor rang me to say three companies had rejected my application. I was absolutely devastated my mind instantly thought what happens if the other two reject my application also. I knew that if I couldn’t secure life insurance, I had two options. Option one would be that my partner and I would buy a house based solely on his salary and the mortgage would be in his name. The second option would have been to ask the bank we were borrowing from to sign a wavier, to say if I passed away our mortgage wouldn’t be paid off.

As I said I never liked to think of myself as different to everyone else, but this harsh reality I was facing made me think about how I was. It made me consider things I had never thought about before. That although I had worked so hard in college to become a teacher and secure a permanent job and even secure an assistant principal position, it didn’t matter in the eyes of a bank when it came to buying a house. I had Cystic Fibrosis therefore I mightn’t get life insurance. This brought up a lot of different emotions for me guilt, sadness, frustration and anger.

My mortgage advisor contacted me to say that the other two insurance companies wanted more information. I knew these two companies were my last chance. I contacted my Cystic Fibrosis team in Limerick and they wrote me a letter to say I was in good health at the moment and gave recent figures of my latest x-rays and lung function tests etc. I had also to contact my GP as the insurance companies wanted details of my history and files from my GP.

My GP told me they would show me all of my notes, history and files, that they would then send to the insurance companies. I went to collect this envelope and I was shocked as the size of this parcel.

There were between 200-300 pages of notes dating from 1995 the year I was born all the way to 2021. I spent hours reading through each of these files. I handed them back to the GP’s and they sent them to the insurance companies. At this stage I wasn’t very hopeful as I thought no insurance company is going to insure me when they see the sheer volume of my file.

On the 28th of March 2022 I received an email from my mortgage advisor to say that the insurance company had issued acceptance terms. The relief and joy I felt in that

The process was extremely difficult, but I was so grateful to my amazing supportive partner who reassured me throughout it all that no matter what happened it would be okay and we would work it out. My parents and my older sister who have always been in my corner from day one, helping me through any and every challenge I face and giving me the courage to keep going, and of course the brilliant team at FOH Financial Advisors in Clonmel, Biddy Purcell and Noreen O’ Loughlin whom I would never have secured life insurance without them working tirelessly to help my partner and I.

We are now trying to find our forever home, however hard it is or it gets I always remind myself how lucky I am to be in the position where I can look for a life- long home as it wasn’t always a guarantee, for a while I thought it might not be possible at all.

I am really hopeful for what the future will hold for my partner and I, and I know it will be one of the greatest feelings when we finally get the keys to our own house.

Helpful Resources

CFI are delighted that Aine successfully obtained mortgage protection insurance and wish Aine and her partner all the best for the future. For others who are on this path, it may be worth approaching several insurers as Aine and her partner did. Each application will be considered individually, on a case-by-case basis. If no offer is made and three refusals have been received in writing, there is also be an option to sign a waiver to this legal requirement.

Further mortgage information is available on our Housing webinar, available on our website.

As Aine suggests, the advice of an independent financial advisor is recommended. If you do not know of

one, Tom O’Neill of BlueChair Finanacial Planning has successfully helped other PWCF through mortgage

applications.

You can also visit Citizens Information for more info or the Competition and Consumer Protection Committee for general information on mortgages.

SPOTLIGHT

Jerry Weldon Memorial walk in Madeira

After a 2-year break, all walkers were really looking forward to Madeira 2022. This year’s International Walk was in memory of former walker Jerry Weldon, and we were privileged to have Jerry’s daughter and son walk with us and listen to many fond stories of previous walks that Jerry had participated in to fund raise for Cystic Fibrosis.

After meeting in Dublin Airport, a wave of purple or yellow CF t-shirts, not forgetting the Irish tricolor backpacks, boarded our plane ready to start our long-awaited walk. Our flight went smoothly until a few bumps on landing - Funchal Airport landing strip, has the distinction of being very short, 3rd most dangerous in Europe and crews require extra training to land here!! But we arrived safely and headed to our hotel ‘Four Views Baia’

Monday

After an early wake up call, we got to see Funchal, the capital city of Madeira. Our walk bought us to the famous Cable Cars. The views here are breathtaking as we soar 560 meters above sea level. Funchal has steep hills and narrow cobbled streets, so this was the perfect way to see all across the Bay, the Marina, and the Waterfront, right up to the lush hills, mountains, valleys and ravines. There was a cruise ship docked for the day so tourist areas were very busy.

After queuing for awhile we descended down the hills on toboggan in traditional basket sledges. These rides are each steered by 2 men in traditional white uniforms and very thick soled shoes. Much shrieks and laughter later and we all arrived down safely. Great photos were snapped, in fact the photo of the week was taken by Robert Weldon and showed a number of walkers rushing down the narrow streets in these baskets.

From here we continued our walk to the old town, where we visited a local farmers market. Madeira is famous for its fresh fruits, vegetables, fish and flower markets and this particular market has been running since 1940. From here we walked through the long narrow cobbled streets to the 15th century Cathedral of Our lady of the Assumption. Our guide Louisa left us free for lunch with advice over our headphones about local cafes, restaurants etc. and minding all the red lights on the many traffic lights in the area!!

After a filling lunch, we lit some candles in the Cathedral

The International Walk 'Madeira 2022' by Debbie McCarthy

for our intentions back home. We continued our walk to the Blandys Wine Lodge. After visiting the wine cellars, it would have been rude not to taste some samples, this is a very sweet wine it was more like a sherry. We finished our walk along more cobblestone streets and made it back to the hotel for a quick swim. Dinner this evening was buffet style with an abundance of fresh produce finished off with delicious desserts and cheeses. Our annual table quiz was tonight’s entertainment. Hosted by Claire and Cathy. We had 2 teams placed joint first but special mention to my team who came second. Fiona, Ann Marie, Ben and myself who bluffed our way to be placed! There was also a birthday cake tonight for my roommate Phil. After a night cap it was early to bed for an early wake up call at 7.15 tomorrow.

Tuesday

First thing was a group photo of us all in our purple t-shirts and we headed to Machico to walk Levada dos Marcos.

Walking along a Levada is one of the main tourist attractions in Madeira Island. The ‘Levada’ are channels of water with a gentle slope originally created to transport water from the north of the island.

Nowadays the Levadas are a way to discover and follow the magnificent nature trails. Our walk had the Levada to our left and with the sound of babbling waters and fabulous views we hiked away. The ledges are quite narrow in places, so single file and concentration was needed. No cars or any other walkers, just our group heading one way through this fabulous scenery. Flat fertile land is scarce here so there were many patches of land between the tracks and steep drops used to plant vegetables etc.

Our walk was through lush valleys with wonderful views including little homes perched precariously on steep slopes. The flower lined ravine winding through cultivated terraces certainly built up a thirst and appetite. On reaching the village we tried the local Poncha, a traditional alcoholic drink made from distilled alcohol from sugar cane, honey, sugar and orange juice. We also sampled some Pasteis de Nata which are Portuguese custard tarts. After returning from Machico, we walked from CR7 museum (Cristiano Ronaldo lives very near by when not playing soccer abroad). Lots of posing by his statues before following the promenade, lunch and returning to hotel. Make sure to have the right hotel name on Google maps as there are three 'Four Views' in Funchal. Tonight, we were entertained by a very colourful local folk group, who encouraged some of the walkers to join them on the dance floor. As per usual Teresa was first on the floor. The hotel DJ took over and we all danced the night away.

Another 7.30 wake up call and we set off for a Funchal Lido Walk. Lined with palm trees and spectacular botanical gardens, this promenade links the Lido area to the pebbled Formosa beach. Very popular with locals and tourists alike, great views over the sea and Funchal town. Lots of local green areas and plenty of artistic sculptures and statues along the way. After lunch by the Forte de Sao Tiage (an old fort still in great shape). We walked through the Rua de Santa Maria. This is a narrow street in downtown Funchal. Until 2010, this was an old narrow cobbled street like many others. A local photographer named Jose could see the potential and wanted to bring life back to the area, so he started the ‘Painted Doors’ project.

This street became a Centre of Art and local artists started painting the old doors. Many more artists signed up for the project and there are now more than 200 painted doors on the street and surrounding area. Many new restaurants and cafes opened up and the street has a vibrant atmosphere and a public gallery for everyone to see and appreciate. Tonight, we put on our glad rags and dined in a local Funchal restaurant. The 2022 Honorary Walker was announced as Betty Mahon. A very deserving winner, Betty made headlines doing a parachute jump for Cystic Fibrosis and was presented with a beautiful canvas of the day. Well done, Betty. Last night we danced tonight we ended with a singsong.

Thursday

Early morning wake up calls will kill me before the walks ever will!

This morning we checked out of our hotel and in our bright yellow t-shirts headed off to Calhata. On our way we stopped for a walk through banana plantations and the famous ‘Cabo Girao’ At 589 meters high these are some of the highest cliffs in Europe (the cliffs of Moher are 214m). Here we took our official group photo, and tried out the glass skywalk. This is a near vertical drop down to the raging waters of the Atlantic Ocean below. We checked into our hotel by Calheta Beach and did a short walk of the beach and marina area. Here, Caz fell in love with a giant yacht. We also spotted a few boats moored up with Irish flags. And a fine sized yacht called ‘Jameson’ which surely had Irish connections. No sing-song tonight, but good company for our night cap, before I helped my one-armed bandit of a roommate get ready, lots of banter and craic.

Friday

Another early start. Today's destination walk along the Levado do Alecrim. Unlike Tuesdays walk where we were constantly in the warm sun, this walk was shaded by trees a lot. 1100 meters above sea level, there was spectacular views of the valley of Rabecal. I had two favorite parts on this walk. Firstly, the ‘Levada stairs’ - very

steep stairs leading up on the pathway while water cascades down the steep waterway next to us. Some great pictures and videos here and it felt like being next to a waterfall. I loved the noise from the fast-flowing water gushing next to us.

Secondly, at the very end of our route, before we turned back, was a small waterfall. A very scenic rest area, some natural pools and smaller waterfalls… very picturesque. Although not a very strenuous walking trail, the path had a lot of stray stones and was quite uneven and could get bumpy so concentration was needed, but lots of areas to take stunning photos of the scenery. On our way back to the hotel we stopped for another Poncha and tried local garlic pate type snacks. Here, Bernie was thanked for all the hard work on the committee and behind the scenes she does to make our walks each year such a success. Our evening tonight was back at the hotel and tonight it was Roisin's turn for birthday cake.

Saturday

Our final full day and todays walk was in a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Fanal walk in Fanal forest is very popular especially overseas hikers and photographers. These forests are full of old, twisted trees, fast moving fog that blankets the views but moves on just as fast. It was very Lord of the Rings/ Hobbitesque, where one expected something strange to appear out of the mist. On more than one occasion we had large free roaming cows sharing this eerie scenery with us. This site is of significant ecological importance because 15 – 40 million years ago much of Europe was covered by this type of Laurel Forest, now it can only be found in Madeira, the Azores, and part of the Canary Islands. Trees in Fanal Forest are over 600 years old. Each tree is twisted, windblown and crooked. The whole region is a relic of days of old, the photographs captured this until the fog and mist descended again. I enjoyed this walk as the fog shrouded over us like scenes from a movie, then lifted again revealing mystical scenery once more. Saturday evening and we had our farewell diner, each walker was presented with a certificate and mementos of Madeira. There was a presentation to Elizabeth and Robert Weldon to mark the Jerry Weldon memorial walk this year. Our final piece of business for the night was the revealing of next years walk destination. Malta and Gozo 2023 – looking forward to it already.

Sunday

A not so early wake up call this morning, but a long day of travelling ahead. We did a quick walk around The Marina, unfortunately Caz yacht departed without her. The runway at Funchal Airport still looked short but we departed safely. A Facebook album full of photos of Great Walks, fabulous food, spectacular scenery, good company and unique experiences in the baskets after the cable cars. All in all, a very successful walk. Can’t wait for next year!!!

The 2023 International Walk takes place from the 19th to 26th September 2023. Register your interest here: www.cfireland.ie