By 
A CRANAGH mother-of-three has described feeling ‘delighted’ to donate two chair beds to the Royal Victoria Hospital following a fundraising campaign generously supported by both the local community and Plumbridge Mart.
Marie Conway was inspired to ‘give something back’ to the hospital’s Neurology Ward 4F after her son, Ryan, required an extended stay there following a head injury sustained last year after a quad bike accident.
After his recovery, the Conway family launched a fundraiser to purchase a Manhattan Chair Bed for the ward and help other families in a similar position.
Following two hamper raffles, the family successfully raised £1,360 for the ward – and heartened by the family’s story, the kind folks at Plumbridge Mart also held an auction just before Christmas of which £2,100 was raised for the cause.
With the final total being £3,460, the Conway family were able to purchase not one, but two chairs for the neurology ward.
‘MEANT SO MUCH’
Speaking to the Ulster Herald, Marie said that the fundraising success has ‘meant so much’ to the family.
“I never in my life thought a chair bed was going to be so helpful, but it really stood out as something that made a difference when Ryan was in the Royal,” she said. “It meant that I was able to be at his bedside both day-and-night. It also provided me with comfortable sleep which eased my anxiety at a time that was one of the most difficult of our lives.
“The nurse at the Royal told me that there were chair beds in the hospital, but unfortunately they were ‘like hen’s teeth to find’,” she added.
“So I felt that raising money to purchase chair beds for Neurology Ward 4F would really help out another family just like ours.
“We wanted to raise funds to buy two of them – but our own fundraiser wasn’t even enough for one,” Marie continued.
“But then Plumbridge Mart stepped up with an incredible auction on December 18 of last year, which helped us raise enough for the two beds when combined with our total.
“We are incredibly grateful to them for what they did.”
Thankfully, Ryan has made a recovery, and according to Marie is ‘doing really well now’.
‘EXTRAORDINARY CARE’
“The care Ryan received at Ward 4F was nothing short of extraordinary,” Marie added. “The compassion, dedication, and expertise of the team were amazing.
“This is our way of saying thank you,” Marie continued. “We hope the chair beds will help another family through a difficult journey, just as it helped us.”
The Conway family have expressed their heartfelt thanks to Plumbridge Mart for their generous donation and to everyone that donated to the JustGiving page, bought raffle tickets for both hampers, to local businesses VIVO Plumbridge and Pinkertons shop Plumbridge for selling the raffle tickets, and to anyone who supported the cause in any way.
