The family of a young boy who spent the last eight months in hospital have revealed their joy at being able to finally welcome him home for Christmas.

Tipperary 12-year-old Jamie Butler has cerebral palsy and epilepsy and was first admitted to Temple Street Children’s Hospital in April where he picked up a virus.

After spending some time on a ventilator, it was decided he would undergo a tracheostomy to alleviate some lasting breathing issues.

On Lunchtime Live, his mother Maggie said the procedure had been a success, but he was stuck in the hospital until a home nursing package could be arranged.

“With the tracheostomy, there has to be two trained people with Alex at all times, so that could be me and a nurse or my husband, his dad Michael, and a nurse,” she said.

“We had a nursing agency before Alex was admitted, but basically the nursing hours needed to be increased to get him home.

“The problem was, the agency we had just couldn’t fill the package we needed and we couldn’t get home without that package being filled.”

Jamie Butler pictured in Temple Street Children's Hospital.

The HSE put the nursing package that the family needed through a tendering process and soon found success.

“Our full package is filled and Alex is home and doing really well,” said Ms Butler.

“We’ve got four nurses here and another one starting in January.

“Alex got home sometime on November 20, which is absolutely fantastic.

“We are over the moon to have him home for Christmas, we didn’t think we would.”

Difficult time

Ms Butler said the last eight months had been very difficult on her, her husband, and their four other children.

“It was really hard because he was up there [in Temple Street] for eight months,” she said.

“For that time, either I was in Dublin and Michael was here with the others, or he was in Dublin and I was with the others.

“It was this constant separation, and the worry was huge. In the beginning, Alex was very sick, before a decision was made to do a tracheostomy. It was a tough time.”

Home in Tipperary

Ms Butler said Jamie is loving being home in Tipperary once again.

“He is doing super, he is just back from town, he went to get his haircut and he met his school pals in Cashel,” she said.

“We met them for a few minutes. He hadn’t seen them in a long time so we just went in for a quick hello.

“He’s doing great, he’s delighted to be at home. He loves being at home, he loves the chat and he loves people coming and going.”

Ms Butler said, “We’re so happy to have him home” and thanked the HSE for handling her son's care over the last eight months.

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