Cork healthcare workers take off on cycle to remember those who died in pandemic

HEALTHCARE and frontline staff from Cork University Hospital (CUH) and West Cork hospitals set off on a cycle event remembering all those lost to Covid-19 on Thursday.

Following the two-day ICU4U memorial cycle, a ceremony will be held at the Memorial Gardens at Islandbridge in Dublin on Friday evening in front of over 7450 white roses, representing the number of lives lost on the island of Ireland.

Members of the public are invited to visit the commemoration site on Saturday to take a rose and remember a loved one, making a charitable donation if they so wish.

The ICU4U cycle saw small teams of ICU doctors, nurses, paramedics, ambulance drivers, Air Corps, other healthcare staff and gardaí depart from university hospitals in Cork, Belfast, Galway, Limerick, Sligo and Waterford, with midway points in Dundalk, Athlone, Portlaoise and Kilkenny on Friday.

The cyclists will pass through as many community hospitals as possible en route to Dublin, collecting white roses along the way.

The teams also hope to raise €150,000 for those impacted by the pandemic through four charity partners including ALONE, Aware, Aware NI and Breakthrough Cancer Research.

Organiser of ICU4U and Consultant Intensivist at Cork University Hospital ICU, Dr Patrick Seigne, said: “My colleagues and I working in the ICU, hospitals, hospices, nursing homes and other frontline services have witnessed incredible tragedy over the past year because of Covid-19, so we’ve come together to do a remembrance event for the victims and their families.

“We have all seen the secondary challenges of the pandemic, in particular with older people, those in nursing homes, those experiencing anxiety and mental illness, and cancer patients so we hope the cycle will also raise much needed funds for four charities supporting these vulnerable people in our society – ALONE, Aware, Aware NI and Breakthrough Cancer Research.” 

ICU Nurse affiliated with the Irish Association of Critical Care Nurses (IACCN), Serena O’Brien, said: “We want to do this cycle as we’ve all unfortunately witnessed a lot of deaths because of the Covid pandemic over the past year and we’ve seen the toll it has had on families, especially when they couldn’t be there for their loved ones.

“Not only will this be a way to remember all these wonderful people, but it will also raise money for others who have been indirectly affected. We hope the general public will get behind us again this year.”