AN INTENSIVE care nurse on a Covid-19 ward put out an SOS for a pair of prescription glasses - and was wearing them just three hours later.
Angela Downward, 59, was struggling with her eyesight while caring for coronavirus patients at Nevill Hall Hospital in Abergavenny.
Angela Downward with her new glasses
Her prescription was sent to local optician Francesca Fulgoni who responded with her quickest turnaround ever.
She contacted Norville’s, an optical laboratory in Gloucester, saying Ms Downward needed her glasses to continue on the front line with the NHS.
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Ms Fulgoni said: “The laboratory was about to turn their machines off but I explained the situation and they were brilliant.
“They walked the lenses through each stage of the processing and one of their staff drove them to Ross-on-Wye, where I was waiting.
“I got them to our practice in Abergavenny and Angela came in to sort out the frames.”
Francesca Fulgoni
The opticians received the urgent prescription at 4.45pm, and she was wearing her new glasses at 8pm.
Ms Fulgoni, who runs the opticians with her father John, said: “It left us all with a warm glowy feeling that we had literally gone the extra mile.”
Ms Downward praised Ms Fulgoni for pulling out all the stops to help her continue to treat seriously ill Covid patients.
“What she did was wonderful," she said. "In normal circumstances I’d give her a big hug.”
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