Heartbroken Clare family planning repatriation of beloved mother after sudden death abroad

The heartbroken family of a Clare native who died after suffering a brain hemorrhage while on holiday have been in contact with the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust and are hoping to bring their beloved mother home within seven to 10 days.

Maura Heffernan, who has lived in County Limerick for some time, sadly passed away on Sunday night after suffering a brain bleed last Thursday while on holidays in Alberta, Canada. Her daughter Helen will be accompanying her for the final journey home.

The 65-year-old had set off on the trip of a lifetime to visit family in Canada but, tragically, suffered a sudden brain hemorrhage just six days into her holiday. The holiday was to surprise her daughter Karen and her grandchildren Aaron, Darren and Susan whom she hadn't seen since before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Maura was due to stay in Calgary in Alberta for another three weeks. Stephen Curtin, Maura's son-in-law flew to Canada with Maura and his wife Helen.

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Last Thursday, after hearing noises when they woke up, they ran to find Maura in the bathroom. At the time, they believed she was having a stroke because she had no speech. “The holiday of a lifetime turned into a holiday from hell," Stephen said on Monday. “At eight in the morning we were awoken to hear Maura.”

He explained that two hours later, they were informed that Maura had suffered a brain bleed on both sides of the brain. The Kilkee native didn't have any underlying conditions that the family are aware of and had been cleared to travel by her doctor as she underwent surgery on her back last year.

The family are very shocked by Maura's passing and Stephen said “it's still very raw” for the family and that they're unable to speak about it. He described Maura as a “superstar”, a “brilliant” person and “a rock” for all the grandchildren. “The love that she's shown us is unbelievable”.

Following Maura's sudden medical episode last week, the family set up a GoFundMe explaining “unfortunately, she will not recover from this”.

“As you can imagine with rising costs of the hospital bills, bringing her home and to give her the best send off that she deserves, we are making this plea to help us make this happen... Once again we appreciate & thank everyone who has already helped us to get this far”, the GoFundMe page reads.

“This GoFundMe is for Maura and Maura alone, it's to get her home,” added Stephen. He is astonished by the support so far for the fundraiser. “I was praying that we'd get close to €5,000 and within 24 hours I think we were at €24,000”. To date, over €40,000 has been raised but the family have set a target of €50,000 to help return Maura home.

Maura was a huge fan of music, particularly Gary Barlow and Take That and had gone to see them in concert in Musgrave Park in Cork last year. She also loved listening to local radio stations, in Limerick, Cork and Kerry along with Classic Hits.

The Clare native loved her family immensely and Stephen said she was always there for everyone else. Maura worked as a shop steward at the Kostal factory in Abbeyfeale for over 20 years before her retirement last year and had lived in Templeglantine for over 20 years. She previously lived in Togher in Cork but moved to Limerick to be closer to her mother Mary O'Gorman who's 94 years old now.

Maura Heffernan née O'Gorman is survived by her mother Mary O'Gorman, husband Gerard Heffernan, four children Helen Curtin, Dominic Heffernan, Karen O'Connor, Lynda Mulvihill and Colin Heffernan and many grandchildren.

Click here to donate to the GoFundMe appeal.