One morning back in 1966 us kids were clambering out of bed getting ready for school,the Ma was downstairs getting the brekkie ready ,when she heard a big thump thump bouncing down the stairs,it was little Ger(he was not so little any more)"Ma Ma" he cried."Whats wrong ?, gerard,spit it out "....."its Bem he s turned yellow".....With that kitty bounced up the stairs to have a look........."Right Ger go in and get Rita ,she will have to bring yous to school, its off to the Doctor for Bem". "Right stick your tongue out ,son ,and say ah"said the doc......"Ah" said bem......."Okay Mrs C, bring this little fella home and an ambulance will collect him later"......Bem was delighted to have time off school ,and an ambulance coming especially for him.. It turned out a long day waiting for the ambulance to arrive,all the kids had come home from school when it arrived,Bem was a bit disappointed when instead of sirens all we got was a loud rap on the door.........In comes the ambulance man with a big grey blanket and tells the mother that all Bem 's clothes must be left behind, including his bodice and jocks as he was going to a fever hospital .Bem takes his clothes off then he is wrapped in a blanket feeling very vulnerable but worse was to come ,The front door was whipped open and the ambulance man scooped Bem up his arms and to his horror there was a few kids outside.Bem held onto that blanket so tight his little hands turned white.The kids were giggling as Bem was being put in the Ambulance.Off the ambulance went with just Bem and the 2 ambulance men(The Ma had a clatter of kids and no one to mind them),When they got to Cherry Orchard fever hospital in Ballyfermot they brought Bem into a room strapped in a stretcher and left him there alone,then in walks this huge nurse and she produces this big syringe and without a word tries to inject Bem. Well now Bem wasn't having that and he and the nurse had a big struggle when she had to give up.Next day when Bem was more settled in, the Doctor came and explained that Bem had to get an needle,this time Bem offered no resistance.It turned out Bem had to get an needle every day for the next 5 weeks while he was in hospital(he had yellow jaundice).After a couple of days Bem was well settled in.There was 3 other males in the ward of all different ages .Bem being the youngest(8 years old) and the eldest about 60 years old.They were all confined to their beds and not allowed to leave them even for the loo.It was a bedpan and jug job..All they had to wear was a long shirt ,no bottoms, no jocks. One day one of the other boys jumped out of bed and was running around when the nurses caught him. They grabbed him and put on this huge pair of jocks on him with big strings dangling from them which were then used to tie him to the bed.They told Bem he would get the same treatment if he got out of bed so he stayed in bed as he didn't fancy been tied to the bed ,even the old guy was afraid to get out of the bed.After a couple of weeks they were all released one by one except Bem.One day Bem was surprised to get a visit off the old guy.He had to come back for a check up and he dropped in to say hello."There's someone to see you", says the nurse. He hands me a bag. Bem was excited as he opened the bag.Inside the bag was a packet of fig rolls and a bunch of Bananas."Thanks so much ,my favourite biscuits and fruit",says Bem.Back then it was a rare treat to get a few biscuits ,let alone a whole packet. 
.A few weeks later it was Easter and as Bem was on a choc free diet the Ma said she would keep Bem's egg at home for when he got out.Back in those days you were lucky to get 1 egg. Anyway Easter Sunday in comes the Ma and the Da for a visit.Then after awhile in comes Aunt Peggy, and she places a bag with an Easter egg beside Bem's locker and the Ma tells her about Bem's choc free diet.Anyway after about a half hour the Aunt Peggy says her goodbyes and leaves.Bem says to the Ma, "Will you bring home the egg that Peggy gave me?". He looks beside the locker and lo and behold its nowhere to be seen.With that Bem jumped out of bed,not caring if the nurses caught him to tie him up and looked everywhere but alas to no avail.The Da,says"I thought I seen Peggy picking something up".Bem got upset.The Ma says,"It's okay Bem ,maybe she brought it home to mind it for you until you get better". Bem never did get that egg.It later transpired the Aunt on hearing about Bem's diet whipped the egg back into her bag and brought it away with her .There was no consoling Bem he cried for ages and the nurses even took pity and allowed him out of bed for a little while.After 5 weeks Bem was allowed home and spent 3 more weeks off school. The kids all loved Bem when he got home .he thought they missed him.They were just after his Easter eggs(word had spread about Aunt Peggy in the family and Bem ended up getting a lot of eggs).xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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