An 84-year-old woman from Co Offaly who has recovered from coronavirus says the welcome home she received yesterday from her local community is something she won't forget.
Mary Jo Kilmurray from Rhode broke her hip after she fell in her kitchen in early March.
Just as she was recovering in hospital in Tullamore she was diagnosed with coronavirus.
However, she has now been able to return home after getting the all-clear from doctors.
Locals lined the streets to celebrate the homecoming of the woman who has been dubbed the 'Queen of Rhode'.
Mary Jo spoke to Newstalk Breakfast this morning about her experience and the 'brilliant' welcome home.
Speaking about her coronavirus diagnosis, she observed: “I was shocked, and I didn’t want to be tormenting the family or that or tormenting myself.
“I asked the doctor ‘is this going to kill me… am I going to die?’ And he said ‘No, no, no… not a word about it’... that’s the answer he gave me.
“I know I was dreadful tired - I slept my life away - and that was about the height of it."
Mary Jo said yesterday's homecoming was "brilliant" - and noted she didn't know it happening at all.
She said: “[They were] all along the side of the road, from Daingean onto Ballybryan - I suppose it’s four or five miles - and the Garda squad card was in front leading the way… Eileen the Guard led the way, with the siren on all the time.
“It was something you wouldn’t forget in [your] lifetime.
"The forget-my-nots were all in bloom, and it was a brilliant day all-over. Then there were people ringing and ringing and ringing until I went to bed at half ten last night."
