A Co Tyrone mum has spoken of her delight after having a long-term home found for her severely disabled son.
Ciara Gilliland from Victoria Bridge had launched a campaign to find a solution for her son Ben, who is unable to live at home due to severe physical and learning disabilities caused by a rare condition.
After a number of meetings with local officials, the short-stay respite facility in Omagh where Ben currently lives will now be converted to allow him to stay until he turns 18.
A recommendation had been made to move Ben to a private clinic in either Dublin or Navan, Co Meath, away from his family and school.
“The only thing I agreed to was that Ben would stay where he is, so everybody agreed that that was the best thing for him,” Ciara told MyTyrone.
“For that to happen the respite facility had to apply to go from a respite facility to a long-term, medium-term and short-stay facility.
“Thankfully that all went through and now they are going through the structural part of where they have to change the building so Ben has his own separate part.
“I’m just delighted that he’s able to stay there and with the people who are really good to him.
“I go up two times a week to see him, he’s so happy now and I’m really happy with the decision I had to make.
Ciara added that the decision for Ben to leave her home was an incredibly difficult one, but that it was one she knew had to be done so Ben could get the care he needs.
“It was awful, I had a lot of breakdowns and stress because at the time I didn’t know was it the right thing to do or the wrong thing.
“I knew it was the right thing but it was very, very hard for me as a mother to let your son go at that age.
“It’s only now that I realise that it was the right decision because he is so happy.”
