Carlow family seek financial help after death of 'lovable, gentle' grandmother visiting from abroad

A family in Carlow are seeking financial help after their grandmother passed away while visiting relatives around Europe. 

Alice had travelled from Nigeria to Europe to visit members of her family, with Ireland being the last stop for her.

After a few weeks here, she suffered a stroke and ended up unconscious in St. Luke's hospital for a week before sadly passing away on Sunday, January 18th.

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Rebecca Olanase, Alice's granddaughter, explained how her granny had been living with her mother while here. 

"She was complaining of a headache, but it was nothing serious. My mom went to go and check on her in the afternoon and she had fainted on the floor and was unconscious," she explained. 

They called an ambulance and she was brought to the hospital, where it was discovered that Alice had suffered a mini-stroke due to high blood pressure.

Rebecca's family have set up a GoFundMe to help cover funeral costs for her grandmother. 

"We weren't prepared for how much a funeral would cost, so we're kind of stuck on the back burner, not knowing what to do and not having enough funds to set up the funeral," she explained. 

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As Alice is from Nigeria and had come from there, her family did look into getting her body back home to be laid to rest there, but it was too expensive. 

Instead, Alice will be buried in Ireland and her funeral will be held in Carlow next week. 

It is hoped that some family members and friends will go to Nigeria in April to have a mini memorial for Alice.

"For the Nigerian culture, you have a little party to celebrate their lives, so we'll try and save money to go up to Nigeria for that in April, so people in Nigeria can also celebrate with us as well," Rebecca said.

Alice will be remembered as "very lovable, very gentle, and very curious." 

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"She loved taking pictures. Everywhere she went, she'll take pictures, even if it's just in front of the bus, she'll take a picture of the bus. She's very goofy as well. She's very funny without even trying to be funny, if that makes sense. She's very gentle as well, and she's always just a very curious woman," Rebecca shared.

Alice was also described as "always smiling," but "very quiet."

"Overall, she was a very gentle woman," Rebecca said. 

With the funeral being next week, Alice's family say any size of a contribution will help. 

If you would like to support them, you can donate to their GoFundMe here.