Sandra receives generous donation of PPE
Nenagh nurse Sandra Farrell has secured a further €100,000 worth of personal protective equipment from Taiwan for frontline healtcare staff working through the coronavirus pandemic.
Ms Farrell, who runs a nursing home in Roscrea and who was a Fianna Fáil candidate in recent general election, has this week welcomed the donation of the vital equipment from a personal friend, Lora Ho, who is Senior Vice President of a company making the PPE in Taiwan.
Ms Farrell and Ms Ho first met two years ago high up in the Himalayas when they were on a meditation retreat together.
"We have remained good friends ever since and keep in touch on a regular basis," revealed Ms Farrell, who welcomed Ms Ho's "amazingly generous offer" to donate the PPE.
This is not the first time that the relationship between Ms Farrell and Ms Ho has resulted in significant quantities of PPE being gifted to Ireland.
Ms Farrell revealed: "On April 4th last it was Lora's birthday. I sent her a text to wish her a happy birthday and I informed her I was volunteering at a nursing home were we experienced a Covid-19 outbreak. I highlighted our difficulty with acquiring PPE and Lora personally offered to donate 1,000 gowns at that stage."
Ms Farrell said she was bowled over by such generosity. The consignment of PPE sent to Nenagh by Ms Ho actually arrived on April 11th - which happened to be Ms Farrell's birthday. "It was a wonderful birthday gift to receive," said Ms Farrell.
Separately, to mark her own birthday, Ms Farrell started a fundraising campaign on Facebook to raise €500 to support an initiative in Coláiste Pobail in Roscrea where a staff member was manufacturing face visors for healthcare staff.
Out of this appeal a total of €13,000 was raised, and because the college required only €3,500 to fund its visors Ms Farrell decided to spend the balance on acquiring more PPE to distribute to healthcare centres and care homes around the country that were struggling to get their hands on such vital equipment.
"So I decided to contact Lora again and asked could she source more PPE. She agreed instantly, saying her company would do its best to support us."
Mr Farrell added that she recieved further communication on May 6th indicating that Ms Ho and her company, TSMC in Taiwan, were committing to donating close to €100,000 worth of a further consinment of PPE to Ireland.
This latest massive consignment, being stored in Nenagh, will be donated to the National Hero's Aid Committee of which Ms Farrell is a member. The committee distributes PPE to nursing homes struggling to secure the vital equipment for staff working with Covid-19 residents.
"Lora had informed me that her company had committed to 'give back' and support their global communities. We were one of their chosen countries which they were going to support in Europe."
Ms Farrell added: "This generous donation will allow us to continue distributing high quality PPE to many more frontline workers in our communities. We will be delivering 25,000 gowns ad 25,000 masks."
The first shipment of this latest consignment was received last Friay.
Ms Farrell revealed that Nenagh businessman Colm Banaghan, CEO of Banaghan & Sons, based at the Stereame Commerical Park, has generously given freely his warehouse space for the storage of the PPE.
She said Mr Banaghan and his staff will also organise the logistics of dispatching the equipment to those homes and centres most in need in liaison with Charlie Tango Bravo Bikers.
Ms Farrell said donations to Hero's Aid to help it continue its good work can be made online at www.heroes-aid.com or you can phone her on 087-6989401.
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