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“I CAN’T wait to get my hair done again!” Kathleen McConville exclaimed as she sat in her home in Ballygawley catching up with all the Covid-19 news.
The 100-year-old Ballygawley woman turned 100 in October, and was born just one year after the Spanish Flu outbreak, but insists she has never experienced anything like this in all her days.
Kathleen admits she often thinks that this is the end of the world and that she is not just herself, however she remains positive with thoughts of getting out and about again, getting her hair cut and seeing her friends and family.
Speaking to the Herald her nephew Joe Gavin said, “Before this, she always had people calling with her so she misses seeing people and getting out.
“The big one is the hairdresser – she can’t wait to get her hair cut and it has started to annoy her now.
“She has carers who come into her and she is very appreciative of them.
“They are very good to her but she finds it strange seeing them in the protective gear.
“Previously, the carers might have give her a hug before they would leave, but they can’t even do that now.
“She won’t break the rules and she wouldn’t ask anyone to break them for her.”
Kathleen, who was born in Findrum, in the parish of Ballygawley on Tuesday, October 21, 1919 remains mobile, claims she is slow but able, and is missing her day trips.
Usually, when the weather is good Kathleen would go for a walk, visit the graveyard and even going for trips to Dungannon and Clogher, before calling with her sister in Augher.
Instead, Kathleen has been spending her days watching The Chase and following the news in the hope of seeing some improvement to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Joe continued, “She is always able to tell us what is going on in the world, how many people have died and all the latest news on Covid.
“She talked about a time years ago when people were getting buried, they had to have lime put into the graves along with them – she is not sure what it was, but she remembers that.
“On the year she was born, there was the Spanish Flu but she didn’t experience much of that.
“Thankfully she is doing well and is looking forward to when this is all over,” concluded Joe.
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