Joshs Lock Down Mile for Irelands Nursing Homes
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Josh’s Covid-19 Lockdown Mile for Ireland’s Care Homes Crisis
Josh is putting his best foot forward! Join me on Facebook
Along with the help of his younger brother, Taylor who is aged 7, he is walking ‘a mile a day’ for ‘every year of his life’, starting at 7am each morning. That’s 14 miles for 14 years! By his side, are his class mates, who decided to join his challenge and walk from their homes, before school starts!
Josh is a jolly teen, who suffers from cerebral palsy, which affects his right side, making walking any distance an enormous challenge. He is pushing his own boundaries for the patients of nursing and residential homes in Ireland because Ireland has struggled to protect these homes from Covid-19.
Nursing and residential homes provide vital care for Ireland’s elderly, for the disabled and those with medical and mental health conditions; making them Ireland’s most compromised and vulnerable to Covid-19. Nursing home employees are among the most courageous front line staff, fighting for the well being of all patients in these homes, whom we now know are most at risk. Elderly have the highest vulnerability to Covid-19.
There are over 490 nursing homes and residential care homes in Ireland providing care to 29,000 people, and there is at least 40,000 staff caring for them. It is shocking, that almost one-third of nursing homes have been struck by the deadly coronavirus outbreaks. There are 209 nursing homes with clusters of Covid-19.
Every day in the news, we are hearing about deaths of old people from nursing homes and in some cases up to 21 deaths in one home alone. This is hugely upsetting for Josh, who thinks of Ireland’s elderly as our national treasures, and as though they could be his grandparents or yours. Also, those in homes with disabilities, whom he can relate to, given his own disability and challenges, Josh empathizes with their vulnerability, saying ‘someday, this could be me.’
Mary Dunnion, chief inspector of social services with Hiqa, recently told RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland that nursing homes had been hit by low staffing levels because so many people have had to self-isolate.
And one expert recently said the spread is “a catastrophe in the making” and under-utilised healthcare staff should be sent to “every single nursing home in Ireland”.
He is Professor Jack Lambert, professor of infectious diseases at the Mater and Rotunda hospitals. Talking on RTÉ Radio’s Today with Séan O’Rourke programme, he also said that nursing homes need to be prioritised.
He called for “boots on the ground” to help fight the pandemic that has hit these homes.
The priority needs of these homes are more healthcare staff and more personal protective equipment.
And so, Josh has taken inspiration from these facts and words, and has decided to put his own ‘boot to the ground’.
A note from Josh -
‘I am inspired by the words of Professor Jack Lambert; his call for ‘boots on the ground’ and by a poem, ‘Footprints in the Sand’ - which has helped me through some of my darkest hours. I wanted to be there for all of our grannies and grandads, whom I believe are our national treasures. And for people in these homes who have disabilities, like me. I hope to inspire others to follow, and leave a foot print for every footstep taken, to show we care, we see, and we feel their need.
I wrote a poem called Foot Soldiers with the help of my mother (see below), to express what I feel in these times. And to encourage others to be the foot soldiers our grandparents once were for us.’
Here's how you can help -
Donate today!
You can donate anything you wish to this page in support of my walk. Every euro counts!
Walk with me and get friends and family to donate!
You can also join me and put your ‘boot to the ground’, by walking any morning for a mile. And if you do, you can ask your friends and family to donate to me at this page. You can post your photos on my facebook page - CLICK HERE . It would really inspire me to see others get out and leave a footprint along with me, to help save the lives of our national treasures.
Come on, support me, and walk with me. It could be your granny or grandad. Let’s do this for them. If I can do it, so can you!
You, along with me, can support them in their fight against Covid-19.
All funds raised will go directly to our Care Homes in Ireland and to the HSE to provide protective healthcare equipment and more healthcare staffing, they need to stay the course.
Thank you for visiting my fundraising page.
Make a donation today!
Thank you so much ...
Poem for our National Treasures by Joshua Bradley
Foot Soldiers
One day I had a flashing vision,
beyond the trees beside my home.
Before my eyes I saw some scenes,
of a world locked down, and families torn.
Grief and pain and hearts broken,
I recognized familiar faces,
and others I did not know.
I noticed this was a time of sorrow.
The clock was ticking with no time to borrow.
Some old and some restricted, with fear upon their faces.
Their life seemed a lonely measure,
although they are our national treasure.
I saw the paths that some had walked,
as foot soldiers for others, in their own life’s walk.
They carried the young, the old, and the vulnerable.
Raised families, and brought great joy.
Through thick and thin they were there.
Through their actions, they endlessly cared.
And now inside their darkest hours,
when their feet walk no more.
They wait gracefully and patiently.
Though fearfully and tearfully.
For others to see and tend their woes.
In that moment I knew my calling.
To be the foot soldier they once were.
With many others by my side,
to join this fight, and keep those alive.
Our time has come to rally round.
And leave a footprint on the ground.
To show we carry our national treasures.
We, the next foot soldiers will walk together.
Copyright of Joshua Bradley
Josh is putting his best foot forward! Join me on Facebook
Along with the help of his younger brother, Taylor who is aged 7, he is walking ‘a mile a day’ for ‘every year of his life’, starting at 7am each morning. That’s 14 miles for 14 years! By his side, are his class mates, who decided to join his challenge and walk from their homes, before school starts!
Josh is a jolly teen, who suffers from cerebral palsy, which affects his right side, making walking any distance an enormous challenge. He is pushing his own boundaries for the patients of nursing and residential homes in Ireland because Ireland has struggled to protect these homes from Covid-19.
Nursing and residential homes provide vital care for Ireland’s elderly, for the disabled and those with medical and mental health conditions; making them Ireland’s most compromised and vulnerable to Covid-19. Nursing home employees are among the most courageous front line staff, fighting for the well being of all patients in these homes, whom we now know are most at risk. Elderly have the highest vulnerability to Covid-19.
There are over 490 nursing homes and residential care homes in Ireland providing care to 29,000 people, and there is at least 40,000 staff caring for them. It is shocking, that almost one-third of nursing homes have been struck by the deadly coronavirus outbreaks. There are 209 nursing homes with clusters of Covid-19.
Every day in the news, we are hearing about deaths of old people from nursing homes and in some cases up to 21 deaths in one home alone. This is hugely upsetting for Josh, who thinks of Ireland’s elderly as our national treasures, and as though they could be his grandparents or yours. Also, those in homes with disabilities, whom he can relate to, given his own disability and challenges, Josh empathizes with their vulnerability, saying ‘someday, this could be me.’
Mary Dunnion, chief inspector of social services with Hiqa, recently told RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland that nursing homes had been hit by low staffing levels because so many people have had to self-isolate.
And one expert recently said the spread is “a catastrophe in the making” and under-utilised healthcare staff should be sent to “every single nursing home in Ireland”.
He is Professor Jack Lambert, professor of infectious diseases at the Mater and Rotunda hospitals. Talking on RTÉ Radio’s Today with Séan O’Rourke programme, he also said that nursing homes need to be prioritised.
He called for “boots on the ground” to help fight the pandemic that has hit these homes.
The priority needs of these homes are more healthcare staff and more personal protective equipment.
And so, Josh has taken inspiration from these facts and words, and has decided to put his own ‘boot to the ground’.
A note from Josh -
‘I am inspired by the words of Professor Jack Lambert; his call for ‘boots on the ground’ and by a poem, ‘Footprints in the Sand’ - which has helped me through some of my darkest hours. I wanted to be there for all of our grannies and grandads, whom I believe are our national treasures. And for people in these homes who have disabilities, like me. I hope to inspire others to follow, and leave a foot print for every footstep taken, to show we care, we see, and we feel their need.
I wrote a poem called Foot Soldiers with the help of my mother (see below), to express what I feel in these times. And to encourage others to be the foot soldiers our grandparents once were for us.’
Here's how you can help -
Donate today!
You can donate anything you wish to this page in support of my walk. Every euro counts!
Walk with me and get friends and family to donate!
You can also join me and put your ‘boot to the ground’, by walking any morning for a mile. And if you do, you can ask your friends and family to donate to me at this page. You can post your photos on my facebook page - CLICK HERE . It would really inspire me to see others get out and leave a footprint along with me, to help save the lives of our national treasures.
Come on, support me, and walk with me. It could be your granny or grandad. Let’s do this for them. If I can do it, so can you!
You, along with me, can support them in their fight against Covid-19.
All funds raised will go directly to our Care Homes in Ireland and to the HSE to provide protective healthcare equipment and more healthcare staffing, they need to stay the course.
Thank you for visiting my fundraising page.
Make a donation today!
Thank you so much ...
Poem for our National Treasures by Joshua Bradley
Foot Soldiers
One day I had a flashing vision,
beyond the trees beside my home.
Before my eyes I saw some scenes,
of a world locked down, and families torn.
Grief and pain and hearts broken,
I recognized familiar faces,
and others I did not know.
I noticed this was a time of sorrow.
The clock was ticking with no time to borrow.
Some old and some restricted, with fear upon their faces.
Their life seemed a lonely measure,
although they are our national treasure.
I saw the paths that some had walked,
as foot soldiers for others, in their own life’s walk.
They carried the young, the old, and the vulnerable.
Raised families, and brought great joy.
Through thick and thin they were there.
Through their actions, they endlessly cared.
And now inside their darkest hours,
when their feet walk no more.
They wait gracefully and patiently.
Though fearfully and tearfully.
For others to see and tend their woes.
In that moment I knew my calling.
To be the foot soldier they once were.
With many others by my side,
to join this fight, and keep those alive.
Our time has come to rally round.
And leave a footprint on the ground.
To show we carry our national treasures.
We, the next foot soldiers will walk together.
Copyright of Joshua Bradley
Organizer and beneficiary
Joshua Bradley
Organizer
David Bradley
Beneficiary