Your ‘only’ is my everything

Marisa Reidy’s daughter, Hanna, has Cystic Fibrosis and is among the most vulnerable groups threatened by COVID-19. While Marisa can do her bit to protect her, she is appealing to everyone else to be responsible in the fight against this unprecedented threat.

YOUR ‘only’ is my everything

How many times in the past few weeks have we heard people say that the Corona Virus affects ‘only’ those with underlying conditions – like that somehow takes the responsibility away from the average person in trying to contain it.

But what I need people to remember is that your ‘only’ is my everything.

Hanna is nine years old and has Cystic Fibrosis, and while we are blessed that she is currently healthy and has a lung function of 99 per cent, we are now in uncharted waters. We simply do not know how Hanna’s body would cope if she were to fall victim of this relatively unknown virus and yes, I’ll admit, we are scared.

I’m not here to cause alarm, criticise or vilify people who are not taking this virus seriously, but I am here to plead with those people to please think of others like Hanna, who need more protecting than the average person. We are isolating, staying indoors and doing all we can to keep ourselves safe, but we just cannot do it on our own.

This virus is spreading fast, and if people continue to dismiss it as something that ‘only’ affects those like Hanna, then what hope do we have of ever containing it? It’s precisely for the sake of people like her, along with the elderly and the sick, that we need to be vigilant, sensible and responsible.

I’ll admit, when pictures and videos circulated online of packed pubs and a crammed Cheltenham, I was furious. And that Simon Harris had to warn against so-called Covid 19 house parties amid pub closures is just mind boggling! But anger gets us nowhere.

So now is the time to beg, plead and appeal to people’s better nature, to please think of the most vulnerable when going about your daily business. It is not easy, I appreciate that, but it is a matter of life and death for some – who will suffer through no fault of their own, but because others refuse to try hard enough because it’s an inconvenience. Just think about that...

Hannah and Marisa