Annette Coker shows trustees of the Friends, Elizabeth Preston, left, and Ann Wadham.
A VITAL new piece of advanced rehabilitation equipment for moving and mobilising people has been donated to the Laidlaw Day Hospital at St Mary’s, Newport.
The life-enhancing equipment, which will help to move and mobilise people who are incapacitated by a medical condition, is now a useful fixture in the unit thanks to a cash donation by the Friends of St Mary’s Hospital.
The £5,268 battery-powered Sara Plus helps to raise patients into a standing position and to move them about.
Annette Cocker, a senior physiotherapy assistant at the Laidlaw Day Hospital, said: "We are very grateful to the Friends for this most useful equipment. This is a way to get frail people safely to their feet without straining their backs and to move them from one object to another.
"The idea is the support gives them confidence to eventually perform the task unaided. It could well be used several times a week, with many of the beneficiaries recovering from a stroke, having multiple sclerosis or spinal injuries.
"The whole aim is to enhance their lives."
Reporter: jonm@iwcpmail.co.uk