AOIFE Potter-Coogan went from managing festivals and events for 40,000 people to sitting at home, too exhausted to cook dinner.
Aoife was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) just before her 40th birthday two years ago, and two weeks before her wedding to her husband David.
Despite having a family history with MS, when Aoife first experienced symptoms she “thought it was an eye infection”.
Her GP sent her to the emergency department having seen some alarming signs and, after days of testing and a consultation with a neurologist, she was diagnosed.
Her health deteriorated very quickly and she had to park her job as an event manager and tourism officer with Limerick City and County Council.
Two years later, she’s preparing to return to work, but says “it’s been exhausting trying to access all of the services a person with MS needs and having to advocate for yourself every time”.
Aoife, from Punches Cross, told the Limerick Post that she took a positive view that “you can live very well with MS, but I had to spend two years going from one expert to another, explaining what each one had said – no one was talking to each other”.
Now, with the help of many specialists – including her gym trainer Eimear Ryan – Aoife has the services she needs but the struggle to pull all of that together is why she is appealing for support for a special project which would provide services under one roof for people coping with all kinds of chronic neurological conditions.
MS Ireland has hopes for a new centre at Springfield on Singland Road.
Once complete, the centre will feature Limerick’s first fully accessible gym for people with MS and similar neurological conditions, alongside dedicated spaces for education, peer support, and community programmes.
The proposed facility hopes to address long-standing gaps in accessible, community-based neurological services in the region.
“This would be a place where multi-disciplines talk to each other, where people can access what they need,” Aoife said.
“Getting services like physiotherapy and having access to a gym and trainers who can design specialised, individual programmes is vital in the early stages. It’s about staying independent and living well for as long as possible.
“I have everything I need now, but it took two exhausting years of searching, work, and advocating for myself the whole time to put myself back together. No one should have to do that when they are also dealing with being unwell. This centre will put the services and all the information under one roof”.
To learn more or to support the project, visit RenewMSIreland.ie.
