Sick children in Irish hospitals gifted with fleet of motorised BMWs
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Sick children in Irish hospitals gifted with fleet of motorised BMWs

SICK CHILDREN in Irish hospitals will find receiving treatment a little less scary, thanks to the generosity of a Cork-based car company.

Dublin's Crumlin, Tallaght and Temple Street Children's Hospitals, as well as Cork's Bon Secours and Mercy University Hospital have all been gifted with motorised BMW cars to allow children to whizz their way through the corridors on their way from A&E to the X-Ray departments.

Image preview Children who would usually be daunted by the idea of receiving treatment in hospital can now whizz around the corridors in style (Image: Keary's Motor Group)

The cars were gifted by Cork-based company Keary's Motor Group, who say they did so "to make things any bit easier for the child" in the scary position of needing hospital treatment.

"Dr Quinn in Temple Street put out the call for cars for children receiving treatment in hospital," Director Brendan Keary tells us at The Irish Post.

"And Pat Phelan, who is a customer and a friend of ours here at Keary's, mentioned it to us and asked would we be interested in it.

Image preview The kids' new BMW arrives at Cork's Mercy Hospital (Image: Kearys Motor Group)

"Of course we said said yes, we said we'd give two of them to Temple Street Children's Hospital. Then someone in Crumlin asked would we do two for them, we said of course!

"Then we got a nice few reminders that we should support our own in Cork--  you know how patriotic Cork people are! We couldn't leave them out, so we donated one to Cork University Hospital, the Mercy and the Bons Secours in Cork.

"Getting the videos back of Anthony and a few other kids in the different hospitals has been amazing to see," Brendan said.

"I'm a father myself, and you know, you'd hope your kids never need to be in that position but if it makes their experience any bit easier at all, that's the only thing you can hope for.

 

"It's not a nice situation but anything you can do to make it any bit more bearable for the child, that's why we're doing it really," Brendan continued.

"We're a family business and it seemed like the right thing to do.

"The videos are gorgeous. It was a nice thing to be able to do, and we loved seeing the kids happy in the cars. It worked out well for everybody."

Dr Nuala Quinn, Paediatric Emergency Medicine Consultant at Temple Street Children’s Hospital in Dublin, who put out the call for cars after seeing a similar campaign in the US and UK, said:

"Entering the doors of any A&E can be a traumatic experience for children and their parents and particularly anxious for everyone at these times, as we are all masked and gowned. This is both a practical and enjoyable distraction for children to drive themselves along the corridor to X-Ray and we greatly appreciate this special delivery from Kearys Motor Group."

Image preview Brian Coughlan of Keaty's Motor Group poses with the BMWs before they are sent out to children's hospitals in Dublin and Cork (Image: Keary's Motor Group)

Head of Paediatrics in Cork's Bon Secours Hospital, Dr Niamh Lynch, said the cars "bring great excitement and a little fun to the Paediatric Ward".

"Like everything, the car will be sanitised between use", she said, adding "the children will enjoy travelling in style!"

Image Anthony with staff at Temple Street (Image: Dr Nuala Quinn, Twitter)

"After this year, the country has realised who the real heroes are, and its not footballers or movie stars," Brendan told The Irish Post.

"The people in the hospitals are the heroes, it's just a small thing we're doing.

"They're the ones looking after people every day."

Image preview Laura Hourican and Paul O'Halloran of Keary's with the electric BMWs before they are sent to children in need (Image: Keary's Motor Group)