Leo’s pride in big sister Sophia as she leads virus battle
IF Matt Damon thinks Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is a ‘badass’ politician for joining frontline workers during the coronavirus pandemic, wait until he hears about his older sister.
Dr Sophia Varadkar made her own television appearance over the weekend, on Sky News, live from Ealing in West London, in her capacity as deputy medical director of Great Ormond Street Hospital.
And there was no-one prouder than Fine Gael’s frontman, who gave her a shoutout
Medicine is in the family blood
on Instagram about her work in helping people through this global crisis.
‘Very proud of my big sis. Helping to lead the fight against covid in the UK #covid19 #family,’ he wrote
Medicine is in the family blood. Parents Ashok and Miriam met in the 1960s when both were working in the medical profession.
Ashok was a junior doctor in an English hospital while Miriam was a student nurse.
Sophia is the eldest of their three children, followed by Sonia and Leo.
When Hollywood star Matt Damon broke his silence from Dalkey, south Dublin – where he has been spending his lockdown with his family, to speak to the Spin 1038 radio station – he made a point of tipping his hat to the Taoiseach, whom he wrongly identified as the president.
‘You’ve got a president who just goes to the hospital and starts working. I mean what a badass, it’s just on another level,’ the actor said.
The comment came after Mr Varadkar returned to work as a medical practitioner during the crisis. The Taoiseach, a qualified medical doctor and former health minister, was recently photographed wearing medical scrubs and a mask as he helped out at a Travellers’ site at Morgan’s Place in Blanchardstown, Dublin.
He rejoined the medical register to lend his time and solidarity with those on the frontline, working with other healthcare employees to carry out swab tests.
Blanchardstown Traveller Development Group posted pictures on its Facebook page of Mr Varadkar wearing the medical gear while talking to residents.
The Taoiseach studied medicine at Trinity College Dublin, spending several years as a nonconsultant hospital doctor before qualifying as a general practitioner in 2010.