Helen helps sister to flee Coronavirus
A Drogheda woman is trying to raise funds for her sister who has had to evacute her and her family from China in the wake of the deadly Coronavirus.
Helen Meegan is originally from the UK but moved to Drogheda 14 years ago, where she is married to Tullyallen man Andrew, with whom she has three young children.
Her sister Lorna had to flee China with her own baby Dora (sevem months) and husband Ty, and they are now confined to a hotel in London for two weeks, until they can move to Ireland temporarily.
“They have literally had to leave their lives with just two backpacks and have no access to their bank accounts in China,” explains Helen, who works in the local Homebase in town.
“They had been following the curfew in their home town of Hohhot, where Lorna teaches English, and just managed to get a flight back to England two hours before the flights were shut down, and even then, they had to go through two hours of tests before they were allowed fly.”
Helen has started an online GoFundMe campaign, which aims to raise €5,000 so the family can survive until they are allowed home to China.
“They know how lucky they are to be clear of the virus when so many thousands of people have been affected, but they have still had to leave their happy life, and have nothing to live off at the moment, even to buy nappies or baby clothes,” explains Helen.
“I actually wasn’t sure anyone would even donate anything, but people have been so generous, and I’m hoping to get the word out there so we can get urgent help to my sister, and get her to Ireland, where she can stay with our parents in Co Mayo.”
Helen hasn’t seen her sister in over five years, so she would be looking forward to a reunion, even if under unfortunate circumstances.
“We haven’t seen each other since she moved to China when she was only 20, and I have never met Dora,” she says.
“Obviously, they want to get back to their happy lives in China, but until then, we need to look after them here, and make sure they are all okay.”
Here is a link to the campaign: https://www.gofundme. com/f/help-for-a-young-familywho