February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
When the feisty Limerick-born actor arrived at the hospital in London, he informed the nursing staff that he didn’t have time to spend being sick.
“He told me that he had to get better,” Irish nurse Nicola O’Hanlon told the Sunday World. “[He had to] finish off the Harry Potter series of films, as he promised his grandchildren he’d be in them all.”
O’Hanlon, a native of Cork, said that the actor soon accepted the fact that he was facing death.
“When he first came in he had a few of us in stitches with his comical ways,” she recalled. “But as the days went on, it was clear there was no way back.”
O’Hanlon, who had become fond of the spirited actor during his illness, admired his stoicism to the end.
“Richard never complained,” she said simply.