Thomas Gould: Cancer Survivor Thanks Staff and Calls for Better Care
Thomas Gould speaks as a cancer survivor in a personal address about his treatment journey, gratitude to healthcare staff, and urgent concerns about access to care. He highlights delays in treatment, hospital parking fees, and barriers like denied medical cards while backing a motion raised by David in the chamber.
Survivor testimony and gratitude: Thomas Gould describes his diagnosis, surgery and six months of chemotherapy, and publicly thanks the doctors, nurses and hospital staff for their professionalism and care. He stresses the human side of treatment and the emotional toll on families.
Concerns about access and delays: Gould warns that delayed treatment can be life‑threatening and argues that there should be no barriers to health. He cites the CUH parking revenue and an example of a patient denied a medical card to illustrate how costs and bureaucracy hurt patients and families.
Diversity of staff and need for investment: He praises the multicultural teams of Irish, Pakistani, Indian, Hong Kong and African doctors and nurses who provided care and uses that praise to underscore the need for more staff and resources so that high-quality treatment is available to all.
Parliamentary context and appeal: Addressing the Minister and supporting a motion brought by David, Thomas Gould frames the speech as backing concrete parliamentary work to extend life, protect families and remove practical barriers to healthcare. He urges action to ensure timely, compassionate care for patients and their loved ones.
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I stand here today as a cancer survivor. A year and a half ago I was diagnosed with bowel cancer. I had to have a tumour removed. Then I had to wait a space of time so that I could get chemo treatment and it went on for over six months. And I know I'd still, it'll be it'll be years before I can say I'm free from cancer. So I know that and I'm not counting my chickens. But what I am doing is I want to send out a thank you to all the doctors, the nurses, the staff, who are so professional, so caring. The work they do is just unbelievable. I met patients in the hospital and when they was getting chemo and it just, the humanity of when you're going through the treatment now. And for some people, treatment delayed, it can be a death sentence. I stayed 3B, right on the edge, very on the edge. And I wasn't scared but for my wife Michelle, my daughters, my sisters, my dad, my extended family, they always feel it. Anyone with cancer, your family feels it more than you. That's why, Minister, this is such an important motion that David has brought here today. It's a really important piece of work because everyone deserves to have the opportunity to live as long as they can live and to, you know, to spend as much time as they have with their family. And just a simple thing, what we have is in the CUH last year, 3 million euros was collected from parking fees. A lot of those are patients, a lot of those are families going out to see them. I know a lady who had skin cancer and she couldn't get a medical card. There should be no barriers to health. And I just want to say to people who are going through the journey, I know it can be scary, but have hope because we have some of the greatest doctors and nurses, if we had enough of them. And the final point I'd like to make is, I had Irish doctors and nurses with Pakistani doctors and nurses, Indian, Hong Kong, African, all over the world. And I remember being in the middle of the night, you'd be lying in bed and the people would be coming in with a smile on their face and it didn't matter what colour their skin or where they're from, the treatment was brilliant. It's just we need more of it.
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