A heartbroken brother was forced to climb on a hospital bench and peer through a window to say his last goodbye to his sibling who died from Covid-19.
The image of Dublin man Padraig Byrne trying to get a glimpse of Francis, 70, on April 1 shows the devastating impact of coronavirus on Irish families.
Padraig was unable to visit his brother at St Luke’s Hospital in Rathgar due to restrictions in place to help fight the spread of the contagious disease.
He opened up about the devastating situation to Joe Duffy on RTE Radio One’s Liveline yesterday.
Padraig and his four other brothers Liam, Damien, Brendan and Brian were also not allowed to carry the coffin due to the infection.
He said: “It was well before his diagnosis [of coronavirus] that the visiting had stopped.
“When the restrictions came in, we weren’t allowed up to see him.
“His wife had been up a couple of times but it was a couple weeks after that that he was diagnosed with the virus.
“I saw him the day he passed away. I went up to the hospital and I got a bench in the hospital grounds and I put it up against the window to see him.
“It was the first time in about four weeks that we had seen him. I looked through the window.
“Two days previously, myself and my other brother Brendan had gone up to the hospital and got the bench so we could look in and see him. But two days after, he passed away.” Padraig opened up about getting a last look at his brother.
He added: “He had passed at that stage. I was
actually looking in, his wife and daughter were in the room. They were with him when he passed away, which was great.
“I saw the bench and I decided I had to see him, I just had to have a look.”
When asked if looking through the window brought any comfort, Padraig said it did.
He added: “I felt I was there and I felt I was with him. It was the only way I could say my last goodbye to him. I shed another tear when I had a look, and I said, ‘Goodbye, Francis’.”
There was no funeral service for Francis but kind undertakers brought the hearse up to his estate in Clondalkin and drove past his neighbours, allowing them to pay their final respects.
Padraig said: “The residents stood out and applauded as Francis went by and it was lovely and I thank them for that.
“We drove behind the hearse out of the estate to the cemetery. We could only go to the grave when he had been lowered down into it, there were maybe 12 of us there.
“When this is all done and dusted, we probably won’t be hit by it until we go to another funeral with a eulogy and everything like that.”
A death notice on RIP.ie says that a full celebration of Francis’ life will be held at a later date.
Secretary of Clondalkin Tidy Towns Pat O’Sullivan paid tribute to Francis who was a devoted volunteer.
He told the Irish Mirror: “He spent countless hours tending the landscaping, maintenance and cleanliness of his estate, Floraville.
“It was an honour to have known Fran not only for his voluntary work but also because he was a humble man who gave so much so that many could enjoy and appreciate our village.”
Local councillor Francis Timmons added: “You’d always see Fran out in Floraville cleaning up with the trolley he made.”
