This kind-hearted gesture will go a long way in bringing comfort to other families.

A very generous young Lifford woman and her family have raised €1,100 for The Friends of Letterkenny University Hospital cause.

The Friends of LUH committee wish to thank Rachel Doherty and family who presented them recently with a cheque, plus ten iPads/tablets!

Rachel presenting the cheque with her step-mum Danielle and her sister Orla.

The money goes towards the ICU Department as a gesture of appreciation for the care and treatment her father received while an in-patient there earlier this year. The iPads will be distributed to other wards in the hospital to enable relatives and friends to communicate with in-patients while visiting is suspended.

Part of the family testimony included: “While Daddy was still sedated and on the ventilator, the ICU nurses kindly offered to video call us using a tablet that they had in the ICU. Although he was still asleep at this stage, it helped us immensely as a family just to have the opportunity to see his face! The nurses video called us throughout his time in ICU via the tablet every few days, or whenever they had the spare time.”

Now that her father is home and well, he has told the family that the first video call he remembers having with them brought him so much comfort.

“Although he couldn’t speak at the time, he said the video call helped reassure him that we were all still okay at home and waiting on him!

“We will never be able to explain the comfort that being able to see daddy via the tablet gave us, and we know at this time that many other families face this heartache of not being able to see their loved ones when they are ill”.