PERHAPS the most poignant moment during this week’s public meeting on the future of stroke services came when a Fermanagh woman stood up and revealed that a close relative who was a stroke patient had died at the South West Acute Hospital just a day before.

There was an outpouring of emotion as Myrtle Abercrombie told the packed meeting in the Killyhevlin Hotel that her brother-in-law, Mervyn Rowe, had received “excellent care” in the Stroke Unit before his death on Sunday.

After hearing about her bereavement, one of the main speakers at the pre-consultation event, Sandra Aitcheson, a Nurse Consultant with the Public Health Agency, said: “That was an extremely brave thing to do. Condolences to you and your family.”

Mr. Rowe’s funeral service was held at Pettigo Methodist Church on Wednesday afternoon, followed by interment at Muckross Cemetery.

On a night when many of those in attendance struggled to contain their emotions, the meeting also heard from other stroke survivors and their families paying their own tributes to the work of the staff at the SWAH Stroke Unit.

Louise Hardman’s husband Wayne suffered a severe stroke at their home in rural Fermanagh this June.

Mr. Hardman also attended the event.

His wife said: “The message is very simple. We need to keep our stroke services locally.”

Another survivor, who said he had suffered a stroke earlier this year, told the meeting that there was a local saying: “If something isn’t broke, why fix it?”