Stephen Hawking's family donates his ventilator to UK hospital amid COVID-19 crisis

Amid the outbreak of deadly coronavirus, while the UK is battling the shortage of ventilators that remain critical in the fight against the pandemic, the British hospitals received two essential donations on April 21. The family of the celebrated physicist, Stephen Hawking donated his ventilator to Royal Papworth Hospital, and 330 Chinese graduates from UK universities have made personal donations £38,000 to buy two ventilators for the British public health service, NHS. 

As of April 22, UK has recorded over 17,300 deaths and amid these bleak situations, Hawking’s family made the unprecedented gesture of donating his ventilator to the hospital which was reportedly the home to the physicist, who passed away in 2018 after making commendable contributions to his field and the study of time. His daughter, Lucy Hawkings lauded Royal Papworth Hospital's service that was provided to her father as “brilliant” and “compassionate”. The hospital authorities have also thanked the Hawking’s family for providing them assistance during the “challenging time” of the global health crisis. 

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'We stand together'

Meanwhile, in another essential donation for the NHS, the Chinese alumni wrote an open letter to UK government and said that they wished to stand in support with the British people and mentioned “good faith”. According to the UK embassy in China, the two ventilators that arrived in Britain had a Chinese proverb written on them that said, “We stand together”. These students had passed out from the British government’s Chevening programme that allows future global leaders to study in the UK. The Minister of State for Asia Nigel Adams also thanked the students and informed that more deliveries are expected from China. 

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Image Source: AP