What happens when a loved one walks out the door one day and doesn’t come back? Bring Him Home -The Search for Ronan is a powerful and poignant true story of mental health, homelessness, overcoming massive challenges and how one family were determined, no matter what, to bring their brother Ronan home.
Ronan was admitted to Cork University Hospital in the summer of 2005 to undergo medical treatment for his mental illness issues. Despite the family’s misgivings and protestations and against its wishes, he was discharged from hospital before he had fully completed his treatment.
Shortly afterwards he disappeared. He had very little money and no mobile phone. He had no passport and all he had was a bus-pass. Following two weeks of futile searching in Ireland, his family took a decision to go to the national media to appeal for help. As a result, it was finally discovered that Ronan had somehow managed to fly to the UK on the day of his disappearance.
Although forewarned of the seemingly insurmountable difficulties involved, the family managed to crack the London media, garner the assistance of Scotland Yard and bluffed their way into the Irish Embassy in London. During their search, they witnessed at first hand the appalling isolation and despair of the homeless in Ireland and London. Against all the odds, they broke down wall after wall and with perseverance and some good fortune, eventually found Ronan.
This is the story of the search for Ronan. Ronan’s story is timeless and is not only about mental health and homelessness. It is also about love, despair, hope and determination. It is about achieving the impossible.
