Tom Barrett

Catherine Barrett, 65, and her husband Tom, 75, have been struggling to keep up with their mortgage payments since she suffered a serious injury that forced her to close her garment alterations business

An elderly Cork couple are battling to keep their home after a devastating injury wiped out their primary income, leaving them drowning in debt they've been desperately trying to clear for years.

Catherine Barrett, 65, previously operated a thriving garment alterations business, but in 2017, an accident shattered her back in two places, forcing her to shut down the enterprise. Now, stripped of their main earnings, she and her husband, Tom, 75, began falling behind on their mortgage repayments.

When it became apparent they couldn't maintain the payments, the couple contacted the bank and entered personal insolvency, agreeing to a structured repayment scheme in an attempt to settle the outstanding €120,000 in debt. The arrangement deferred €30,000 of the debt and divided the remaining €90,000 into monthly instalments of €832.

Catherine insists she has never missed a payment, though that hasn't come without severe sacrifices.

"There were times I went two or three days without eating," Catherine admits. "I just made sure Tom and the dog had something. I couldn't bear them going without." The couple now get by on roughly €600 weekly, which includes Tom's modest €100 pension, while still attempting to meet their mortgage payments. The deferred €30,000 portion of the debt also hangs over them and must be settled within five years. Friends of the pair recently set up a fundraiser to help Tom and Catherine escape the debt that's overshadowed them for much of their lives, reports Cork Beo.

Their property, worth approximately €320,000, is mostly paid off, with the remaining debt reduced to around €46,000. Despite this, Catherine says they're now living under the perpetual threat of potential repossession.

"We've been living behind four walls with this secret," she told the Neil Prendeville Show on Cork's RedFM. "Every morning I wake up with the weight of it."

The emotional burden has been worsened by severe health problems. Catherine recently experienced a pancreatic blockage on St Stephen's Day, followed by complications in her bile duct just months afterwards. Tom, meanwhile, remains on a small pension, and the pair say neither is physically capable of returning to employment.

Catherine has even taken out life insurance in an attempt to safeguard Tom financially should she pass away first. However, she was unable to obtain cover for him, leaving her anxious about what might occur if she were left on her own.

"All Tom wants is to hold the deeds of our house in his hands before he dies. He just doesn't want the bank taking our home," she said. Originally mortgaged with First Active before being transferred to Bank of Ireland, the pair say they aren't refusing to pay, but simply cannot identify a solution.

For the time being, Catherine continues to battle on, despite illness, hunger and fear, hoping that following a lifetime of work, their remaining years won't be spent losing the home they sacrificed everything to preserve. You can check out the fundraiser for the couple here.