An 83-year-old woman has been given a heroes welcome after surviving coronavirus.
Mary Joe Kilmurray returned home to a social-distancing community welcome in her hometown of Rhode in Co Offaly yesterday, something she says she will never forget.
Ms Kilmurray broke her hip after she fell in her kitchen in early March and was recovering in hospital in Tullamore.
She was diagnosed with coronavirus, but has since recovered.
Locals turned out in family groups - to observe social distancing - to welcome Mary Joe home and she says she was shocked by the turnout.
“They were brilliant! Sure I didn’t know this was happening at all.
“I never knew a thing about it.
“Everybody else was home from where they were and dressed up and all along the side of the road from Daingean on to Ballybrack.
“And the garda squad car was in front and they were leading the way.
“It was absolutely great.
“It was something you wouldn’t forget in my lifetime.”
