THE family of an Irish emigrant in Sydney who has been left with severe memory loss following a brain aneurysm have appealed for help to fly him back to Ireland to speed his recovery.
Dermot Keane (53) was rushed to hospital on October 2 after suffering an aneurysm, which causes bleeding on the brain. Mr Keane, the brother of former Live 95FM DJ Benny Keane who was killed in a car accident 12 years ago, is now in a rehabilitation unit in Randwick, Sydney.
His sister Mary Neville from Ballysimon told Limerick Post: “Physically, he’s okay but mentally his memory is nearly completely gone. He talks about our mam and brother Benny, who is gone from us 12 years now, as if they were still alive.”
Mr Keane has no family in Sydney but friends in his adopted hometown have reported that he is “in good spirits” but is still in a confused state.
Ms Neville is appealing to people in Limerick to help raise funds to bring her brother back to Ireland.
“We hope to fly him home to get him into a centre here. At least then I could visit and make sure he’s okay. Dermot will probably need a lot of rehab over the next two to three years. As you can imagine, there are going to be huge medical expenses; he didn’t have private medical insurance and the public health system won’t cover all of it.”
“He may never be 100 per cent better; doctors are nearly certain that he won’t be well enough to work again. It’s going to be slow but we’re holding out hope that he’ll get back to as near to normal as possible.”
A bank account has been set up for the Dermot Keane Recovery Fund at Permanent TSB on William St (Sort Code 99-07-26, Account No. 21187540), while a table quiz in aid of the appeal will take place on December 1 at Jerry O’Dea’s bar at 8pm.
