Staff on a Mercy mission answer catwalk call

Gardaí, nurses, firemen and paramedics have responded to a busy city hospital’s call for help.

The front-line emergency service workers will swap their uniforms for the hottest new looks, as they hit the catwalk for a special fundraising fashion show for the Mercy University Hospital (MUH) in Cork. Funds raised will go directly to MUH’s emergency department.

The emergency service workers will be joined by models from Lockdown Model Agency and Cork GAA stars Ciarán Sheehan and Eoin Cadogan, modelling designs from boutiques including Amity, Saville, Sallingers, Miss Daisy Blue, Oasis, and Caroline Atelier.

Mercy Hospital Foundation spokesman Micheál Sheridan is delighted so many people have come on board.

“The Emergency Department is a service we all hope we will never need,” he said. “But in reality, we all know someone who will use it at some time or other, so fundraising to improve vital services, to enhance privacy, and the general experience in the department is in Cork’s best interests.”

Traditionally, hospital fundraising for children’s services or medical equipment for children’s wards had been more successful than for some other areas, he said.

“But other services in MUH, like urology and gastroenterology for instance, were using cutting-edge technology, providing world-class care, improving quality of patient care, reducing hospital stay, providing early and effective diagnosis and ultimately saving lives. These services too need ongoing funding to enable the hospital to deliver the highest quality of care.”

He said the foundation is engaged in a fundraising drive for these services.

The fashion show is in The Roxy Nightclub, above The Classic bar on South Main Street, on Friday, Apr 27. Doors open at 7.30pm for a West Coast Cooler reception and the show starts at 9pm. Tickets are €15 from The Roxy Facebook page.