Hannah’s Homeward Bound

Hannah Leonard

aving been left in a coma after a car struck her on a pedestrian crossing, the family of Hannah Leonard have confirmed that the Bray 22-year-old is finally coming home from Sicily.

With a GoFundMe now having raised almost €240,000 for Hannah’s surgeries and care, the Leonards had an emotional Christmas by her side that saw clear signs of recovery for a patient whose initial prognosis, by one doctor’s reckoning, “not good”.

Against many odds though, Hannah is fighting back.

Here’s the latest post from the Leonard family…

Christmas was surreal for us but in a true display of how we have been accepted into the hearts of Hannah’s medical team, we were asked to join them for mass on Christmas morning at the hospital chapel.

It was a lovely service, the priest welcoming us, the Irish visitors, and offering a prayer just for Hannah. One of Hannah’s ICU doctors arranged a special treat for us; we all got to visit with Hannah on Christmas morning and give her some gifts. Possibly the best gift of all was being allowed to take off the latex gloves so we could hold Hannah’s hand without a barrier for the first time in nearly 3 months.

We presented the medical team with the smallest of gifts, Butler’s chocolates, that I’d brought from home just for this occasion. The nurses and doctors, who continue to be amazing, then invited us to their canteen to share in some Christmas cake. This was all followed by the same doctor inviting us to share Christmas lunch at his home with his extended family. We were driven high up into the Catania hills, his home having stunning panoramic views of the sea below. His family welcomed us as if we were part of their family and we got to experience a true Catanese Christmas, eating the traditional lasagne cooked by the 84-year-old grandmother.

It wasn’t a celebration for us but a welcome distraction for a few hours from the reality we have been living. Late in the afternoon we returned to the hospital for our second visit of the day with Hannah.

Hannah continues to recover from her surgery, she still remains infection free, her neurosurgeon is happy with everything, and the doctors are now actively talking about getting her back to Ireland to continue her healing journey and plans are now starting to be put in place for this to happen.

The Leonard family…

So, we are thankful to have Hannah in our lives and to have our other children by our side, we are thankful for all of the care she has received and all the support we have received from everyone, we are thankful to each of you that have been part of this journey, we are thankful for our immediate and extended family.

Look to the New Year as an opportunity to live the life you want to live, explore those dreams you have been putting off, spend more time with your family. And most importantly be thankful for all those wonderful people that you have in your life.

Life can change in an instant, don’t wait to follow your dreams.

Hannah was brought to Beaumont Hospital by air ambulance on Wednesday, January 15th. You can still donate to the GoFundMe for Hannah Leonard right here.