Read on Twitter
Got a bit of an announcement from me and my youngest brother @SamAwoolf. A thread:
Dad is still in the hospital on a ventilator with covid-19. His condition is still critical. Before all this nightmare began, though, we knew that one of the worst parts of a hospital stay, especially for an avid reader like dad, would be the boredom.
That's compounded by the nature of this pandemic. We can't go visit dad - nobody can go and see their loved ones in hospital the way they usually can. Recovery from this disease is a long and heartbreakingly lonely road.
We obviously can't do anything to help medically. But when we asked dad's doctors if there was some way to get him something loaded with audiobooks, they universally said that this was something that could be a great help not just to dad but all their patients.
(apologies, just got today's daily call from the hospital with an update about dad, will resume this thread in a sec)
OK I'm back. Where was I.
So. We wanted to see if there was a way we could help - and I'm so proud to announce that yesterday afternoon we delivered a box of Kindle devices loaded audiobooks to the staff at @whithealth as a pilot program for what we're calling the Books for Dad Project.
The pilot program will last a week, and - if it's successful - we hope to be able to quickly expand the #BooksforDad project to hospitals across London and nationwide.
Special thanks to our partners @AudibleUK for their incredible kindness in supplying the devices and stuffing them full of great audiobooks for recovering patients to read - without them this wouldn't have been possible.
And thanks also to Project Wingman - a volunteer network of staff from @British_Airways and others who are helping out in NHS frontline hospitals - who will be providing disposable headphones for the project.
Lots of people already asking for ways to donate - your kindness is overwhelming and I love you all. We're going to wait to see results from the pilot program first, but if staff and patients tell us they find it helpful then we'll start fundraising soon, so watch this space...
And of course, our deepest thanks go to the dedicated staff of @WhitHealth, and all the doctors and nurses and care workers looking after dad and thousands of patients like him across the country with infinite patience, kindness, and dedication.
A coda: Audible was kind enough to add an extra device outside the pilot program so Dad could have one. He's sedated on the ventilator so no idea if he can hear, but he's listening to Pride and Prejudice and had a positive day, slight recovery today. The power of literature! https://twitter.com/audibleuk/status/1256598550420602881
Oh! almost forgot, but in particular I want to thank @newsmary and @SophiePlateau at @audibleuk, without whom none of this would have been possible
