A GRIEVING Mayo woman has shared a heart wrenching poem she penned following the death of her sister who passed away after contracting Covid-19.
Rose 'Billy' Mitchell died on 4 April in a London nursing home after contracting the fatal virus, and her heartbroken sister Dorothy Duffy, said all she could think in the hours following her death was 'My sister is not a statistic'.
Ms Duffy spoke to RTÉ's Liveline where she described her beloved sister as someone who "deserves more, deserves lots of people to grieve for her".
She penned the poem shortly after Ms Mitchell's death, telling Liveline that it came from "grief and loss and frustration and not being able to be with her children and her grandchildren".
Rose 'Billy' Mitchell is remembered by her sister, Dorothy, in a poignant and emotional poem. (Dorothy Duffy / RTÉ )Rose 'Billy' Mitchell emigrated to London at the age of 18 where she worked several jobs over the years, including, at one stage, as a carer. She met her husband, married and had four children who Ms Duffy said were "her absolute world".
Within the poem, Ms Duffy laments the fact that thousands of human lives are reduced to lines in articles about underlying health conditions, saying it is "a pitiful way to lay rest the bare bones of a life", and grieving that her sister died alone "without the touch of a loved one's hand".
"I was doing it for all the other families up and down the country," Ms Duffy told Liveline, "because their family's loved ones, they’re not statistics either. There’s a story behind every one of those losses.”
You can listen to Dorothy Duffy read the poem in tribute to her sister here.
"My Sister Is Not A Statistic." ❤️
Dorothy Duffy bravely shared this poignant tribute to her sister Rose who passed away this month from Covid-19.
Dorothy encapsulates the feelings of loss and helplessness felt by so many who have lost a loved one to the virus. @rteliveline pic.twitter.com/vTNDfzHMOx— RTÉ Radio 1 (@RTERadio1) April 15, 2020
The poem in full, which Ms Duffy initially sent to the BBC, can be found below.
Rest in peace, Rose 'Billy' Mitchell.
MY SISTER IS NOT A STATISTIC
Tomorrow, when the latest Deathomoter of Covid is announced in sonorous tones,
While all the bodies still mount and curl towards the middle of the curve
Heaped one atop and alongside the other
My sister will be among those numbers, among the throwaway lines
Among the platitudes and lowered eyes,
an older person with underlying health conditions,
A pitiful way to lay rest the bare bones of a life.
MY SISTER IS NOT A STATISTIC
Her underlying conditions were
Love
Kindness
Belief in the essential goodness of mankind
Uproarious laughter
Forgiveness
Compassion
A storyteller
A survivor
A comforter
A force of nature
And so much more
MY SISTER IS NOT A STATISTIC
She died without the soft touch of a loved one's hand
Without the feathered kiss upon her forehead
Without the muted murmur of familiar family voices gathered around her bed,
Without the gentle roar of laughter that comes with memories recalled
Evoked from a time that already seems distant, when we were
connected by the simplicity of touch, of voice, of presence.
MY SISTER IS NOT A STATISTIC
She was a woman who spanned the seven ages.
A mother
A grandmother
A great grandmother
A sister
A Friend
An aunt
A carer
A giver
MY SISTER IS NOT A STATISTIC
And so, she joins the mounting thousands
THEY ARE NOT STATISTICS ON THE DEATHOMETER OF COVID
They are the wives, mothers, children, fathers, sisters, brothers
The layers of all our loved ones
If she could, believe me when I say, she would hold every last one of your loved ones, croon to and comfort them and say - you were loved.
Whilst we who have been left behind mourn deep, keening the loss, the injustice, the rage.
One day we will smile and laugh again, we will remember with joy that, once, we shared a life, we knew joy and survived sadness.
You are my sister ........ and I love you.
Dorothy Duffy
4th April 2020
See More: Coronavirus, My Sister Is Not A Statistic, Poetry, RIP
