Grateful couple donate ventilator to Lourdes hospital

A local couple who raised €48,000 through a charity headshave and auction event last year presented a new ventilator from the proceeds to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, recently. Trevor and Lorraine Lynch from Lismullin, Navan, had a baby son, Colin, in December 2006. About a month before their baby was born, the couple learned the devastating news that he had a condition known as Edward"s Syndrome and would not survive. Trevor explained that the syndrome means that their baby did not develop properly and everything shuts down. He recalls that it was a 'very tough and emotional time' and they were not sure what was going to happen. Baby Colin lived for a week, which was longer than they had expected, and the couple were delighted to be able to bring their little boy home for a couple of days before he sadly passed away. Trevor and Lorraine were very grateful to the hospital for the help and support they gave them at the time and wanted to do something for the hospital. 'We decided we would do a fundraiser to thank the hospital for all the help we got. We were delighted with everything they did for us for the few days,' said Trevor. Trevor and Lorraine arranged a headshave last year and were delighted when 30 people signed up for the headshave. Four women, including Lorraine, took the brave step of parting with their locks on the night. 'We asked our friends to do the headshave and it was unbelievable the amount of people who put their names forward,' said Trevor. They also held an auction on the night in Walterstown GAA Club and more than 400 people turned up. In total they raised a massive €48,000. 'We were shocked. We said that if we made €10,000, we would be happy and half way through we thought we would make about €20,000. It was up to €35,000 on the night and, by a week later, the total was up to €48,000,' added Trevor. From the proceeds, the couple decided to donate €38,000 to the Lourdes Hospital to purchase a ventilator for the baby special care unit and they also donated €10,000 to SOFT (Support Organisation for Trisomy). Trevor explained that they did not want the money to disappear and wanted it to go towards something of value for the special care unit. 'Everybody was so generous. It was a once-off thing that you would never be able to do again. We want to thank everyone who got involved and supported us,' he said.