Local crochets 400 ear protectors for frontline workers
The first donation helped the medical workers a lot, and they appealed for more.
Velia Blignaut’s love to give back to the community inspired her to donate 400 crocheted ear protectors for masks to frontline medical workers.
When the Boksburg North resident’s neighbour, a nurse at a hospital in Benoni, mentioned that her ears were hurting due to the long hours of wearing a mask she was determined to help.
Blignaut saw a Facebook post about crocheted ear protectors that can relieve the pressure and irritation that some people experience when the elastic bands on masks rub against the skin behind the ear.
With that in mind, she avidly began to crochet ear protectors for her neighbour and other medical workers at the hospital.
A month ago, she sponsored the first batch of 130 ear protectors. The donation helped the medical workers a lot, and they appealed for more.
Blignaut crocheted an extra 270 ear protectors and donated it about a week ago. Her 72-year-old mother, Renè Jordaan, also jumped in to help the frontline workers.
“It might be a small way of showing that we appreciate the work they do, but we wanted to help wherever we could. I thought that I might as well do something productive with my time at home. Most of us have it easy as we only have to wear masks when we’re outside.
“On the other hand, doctors and medical practitioners who have to wear them for hours at a stretch have been dealing with nagging ear pain as the masks pull on their ears. This is why ear protectors are extremely important. It helps them a lot, and the staff members really appreciate it,” she explained.
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Blignaut highlighted that she sanitised the ear protectors after they were completed and left them in front of her neighbour’s gate or her post box. She used about two kilograms of leftover cottonwool and 800 buttons to complete the strips for the masks.
The home executive explained that her grandmother taught her how to crochet when she was five years old. “I could crochet before I even knew how to walk,” she joked.
She is also involved in several other charity projects and has crocheted blankets for the elderly and victims of the Hoërskool Vaal Driehoek tragedy, among others.
“I couldn’t have done it without the support of my family and friends. One should always do what they can to help, but also remember not to do it for recognition. Don’t let your right hand know what your left hand is doing.”
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