Over the years, we have been told to be realistic.

Funny thing is: much of what Pádraig is doing today—standing, communicating, participating, contributing to community life, inspiring the work of the An Saol Foundation—might never have happened if everyone had accepted the “realistic” view offered in 2013.

Pádraig had an incredible week.

We continued to walk as much as we could. Breaking records. Literally breaking new ground. We walked across the therapy room in An Saol. In the only place in Ireland where this is not only possible, but standard.

On Friday, we had three Neuro-orthopedic consultants in An Saol who reviewed 14 of our clients over 4 hours. Mr Poschmann came over from Germany for what must have been his 6th consultation with our clients. The atmosphere in An Saol was truly electric. We reached our capacity limits as clients went in and came out of the consultation like clockwork. Full of life, full of hope, and full of energy knowing that An Saol is the only place in Ireland where they could access such a service – without excessive waiting times and without a charge. Thank you to the three Neuro-orthopaedic orthopaedic consultants who provided this vital services to our clients!

On Friday, the production company tasked by RTE to produce FutureVille Ireland filmed in An Saol – with details to follow.

Saturday was the highlight in our calendar, marking the achievements of our clients in the annual all-inclusive social event, the IronMonth.

Later that afternoon we all went to Hedigan’s for the wrap-party of the documentary he had put together with some of his friends – and which we can’t wait to watch, later this year..

Are you still curious about the most expensive word in healthcare?

I think it might be, at least in the context of sABI, ‘realistic’.Because every time expectations are lowered, opportunities are lost. And when opportunities are lost, people often end up costing the system more—not less.

There have been few weeks like last week when I felt such a spirit of community, support, and hope.

It was only rivalled by this year’s experiences at the Teach an Saol’s annual BBQ, where we celebrated the incredible achievements of some of our client, attempting to do as much as they could in a self-paced the cost-paced all-inclusive IronMonth.

The thought crossed my mind that none of this would exist had it not been for Pádraig’s accident.

The central question, on reflection, is not really what the most expensive word in healthcare is, nor whether we should be more ‘realistic’

The real question is: should healthcare be built around predicting limits or creating possibilities?

What do you think?