Some frontline nurses and doctors battling the coronavirus pandemic now have a bit of football history for themselves.
When they discovered a lot of old football shirts from the U.S. national team. In the basement of Soccer House, a former stately mansion that serves as a football headquarters in Chicago, federation’s leading physician, Dr. George Chiampas, thought they might be to give single use.
“Several members of our staff, our federation, have said, “What can we do to use this beautiful game to be able to work on the front line?” Spread a message to make a difference? Chiamas, who works at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
Enter Melizabeth Santos, a Chicago instructor who made a mask to protect her circle of family and friends from the coronavirus in the early stages of the pandemic, when non-public protective devices were scarce.
“I won an email from the Football Federation asking me what I would think of participating in a task that would take retired T-shirts and turn them into a mask for lifeguards,” Santos said. “And I was thrilled because I didn’t have the means to supply masks to lifeguards as I would like.”
Santos said the challenge is to take the polyester T-shirts and make them more breathable as a mask, so he used a cotton stand. She naturally sought out the mask to be beautiful and constitute the players who wore the T-shirts. Some of the masks are designed to cover the N95 mask.
Some 500 masks are distributed to hospitals, police and firefighters. One of the beneficiaries, former D.C. United player turned physician, Robbie Russell, emergency physician at the University of Virginia medical system.
Other? Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading infection specialist.
OKC Energy FC plays San Antonio FC, a USL championship football match, on Wednesday, August 19, 2020 at Toyota Field in San Antonio, Texas. (Darren Abate Championship / USL)
OKC Energy FC plays San Antonio FC, a USL championship football match, on Wednesday, August 19, 2020, at Toyota Field in San Antonio, Texas. (Darren Abate Championship / USL)
OKC Energy FC plays San Antonio FC, a USL championship football match, on Wednesday, August 19, 2020, at Toyota Field in San Antonio, Texas. (Darren Abate Championship / USL)
OKC Energy FC plays San Antonio FC, a USL championship football match, on Wednesday, August 19, 2020, at Toyota Field in San Antonio, Texas. (Darren Abate Championship / USL)
“I’m passing to go straight to the front door of my (emergency department) with red, white and blue on my face. Until I have to put on my mask, I’ll be in my position with my American Football Federation mask. Russell said. It’s going to be great. “
One of Santos’ conclusions? “It’s worth taking sewing lessons with your grandmothers, because it’s still a necessity.”
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