Imagine not been able to speak to your family and friends; to pick up the phone for a chat; to sing along to your favourite song. That is the reality that Madeline O Connor must live with every day.
She can no longer speak such is the progression of her Motor Neurone disease, though she was only diagnosed less than a year ago.
In April 2020, the Tralee woman s life was turned upside down when she learned she had Motor Neurone Disease (MND) - a devastating diagnosis at any time but one that came right at the beginning of the pandemic.
It is also a diagnosis that altered her life forever, and today, in the midst of another lock-down, she is sharing her story of the incurable illness and what the past year has been like.