The Queen’s compassion and sparkle have left a lasting impact on Susan

The Enniskillen mum was in the Children’s Ward in the hospital with her son, Eoin who has Down syndrome and was having some breathing difficulties.

And while by her son’s bedside, Susan met the monarch, and remembers a warm conversation with Queen Elizabeth who had the “bluest, sparkling eyes”.

Having been admitted to the ward, Susan can be forgiven for having Eoin’s wellbeing at the forefront of her mind and not a royal visitor.

“I clean forgot about The Queen coming, and thought, ‘What’s all this security about?’,” she recalls.

It was just two hours before the meeting that Susan was asked if she wanted to meet The Queen, but it is a meeting she will never forget.

John McVitty (Image: John McVitty)

“I remember meeting her and she was smaller than I thought. I remember her hat was quite tall, and her amazing brooch.

“And I do know that her blue eyes stood out – really stood out. She had the bluest, sparkling eyes.

“She had smiley eyes.”

So what kind of conversation do you have with a monarch?

Susan said she was her normal chatty self and Queen Elizabeth seemed genuinely interested in what they spoke about.

‘Chatting away’

“I was just relaxed and chatting away as normal. The consultant came back and said I chatted away as if I knew The Queen for years! But she made you just relax, and just asked nice, relaxing questions.”

Her Majesty asked about Eoin and his condition before asking Susan’s opinion on the new hospital.

“She asked what did I think of the new hospital, and I was saying it was absolutely brilliant, state-of-the-art, but I said it’s brick and mortar – at the end of the day, it’s the medical staff who are saving lives.

John McVitty (Image: John McVitty)

“And I said, ‘In the hospital before, in intensive care I would be lucky to get an armchair; at least here in the new hospital you can have a bed’, and she went, ‘Oh, are there beds in the room?’ and a member of staff pulled the fold-down bed, and she was going, ‘Oh wow, and did you sleep in that bed last night?’

“I burst out laughing nicely, and said, ‘All three hours’ sleep I got, yes’.”

After the conversation, The Queen was then making her exit – but before that, she wished Eoin a speedy recovery.

It was a touching message for Susan to hear, and she was impressed with The Queen’s pronunciation of her son’s name, as it was spelt in Irish.

“When she was leaving, I said his name was chosen because it means ‘God is gracious’, and some people say ‘Gracious gift from God’ and she went, ‘Oh!’, and that was it,” said Susan.

Like millions of other people, Susan feels the sadness of The Queen’s passing, but she will always have this story to share and as well as leaving a lasting impression on her, Her Majesty may have left a lasting impression on Eoin as well, as apart from one further visit to the hospital in October of that year, he has not been admitted to hospital since!