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NOV 25 2021
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Mother learned of daughter’s death over Facebook PÁRAIC McMAHON
paraic@clareecho.ie
A
COUNTY Clare mother who says she learned of her daughter’s death via Facebook messenger is calling on nextof-kin guidelines to be reviewed. Killaloe native Mary O’Shea, who lives in Meelick, was informed of her daughter’s death when a former co-worker messaged her on Facebook to pass on her sympathies. It would take a total of 15 hours before she received official confirmation that her daughter had died. Ms O’Shea’s daughter Aisling was laid to rest last December, and approaching the first
anniversary of her death, she is highlighting how next of kin guidelines are depriving loved ones of information. There is no legally defined meaning to next of kin in medical law in Ireland. Deputy Cathal Crowe (FF) asked the Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly (FF) to amend “the next-of-kin rule in order that both parents of single adults who are hospitalised are down as the point of contact rather than just one when applicable” on the back of representations by Mary. In response to Deputy Crowe’s parliamentary question, the HSE acknowledged that referring to individuals as next of kin in case of emergencies can be “misleading”.
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l Mary O’Shea at her home in Meelick Co.Clare with her daughter Aisling’s Memory Box.
Photograph: Natasha Barton